The Gays and Tennis 34: Post AO season and the Sunshine Double!

previous thread

Thank you for starting the thread, OP.

Why was Eugenia BouBou given a MD wildcard to Dubai??

R3 Unfortunately she's a bigger star than her achievements deserve.

There's still a huge part of WTA fandom which is based on the players' looks rather than their game.

she just lost to Brengle in the qualies of Doha this past weekend lol

It's just such a bad look, especially for a Premiere event with tones of $$ already. Maybe if she could win more than one match at any event it would make sense. Errani got a wildcard too but at least she's a former champion.

I mean Anna Kournikova is still one of the most recognisable names and faces in tennis. I daresay more so than Bouchard (even in 2019). Should we give her a WC?

In other WTA news, Meldonium Sharapova has withdrawn from Indian Wells. The end is nigh.

R6 I get your point but Kournikova, while not winning anything big in singles won a couple of doubles slams. She was on a different plane to Bouchard in both her achievements and fame.

[quote] There's still a huge part of WTA fandom which is based on the players' looks rather than their game.

So true.

Nole

Tiawful appeared again in New York, I see.

The New York Open really is an affirmative action program for mediocre ex-college players looking for their first victories on the tour (Schnur, Jung).

Why are there so many Germans at the Argentina Open?

Nobody's posted this picture yet? I'm disappointed.

Feliciano is a "top" apparently.

R11, maybe there is a big German community in Argentina; didn't a lot of German war criminals "relocate" there after WWII?

Schwartzman is of German descent but Jewish too.

Schwartzman is a cutie.

Sascha is in Florida now. He posted on an IG story a picture of his 'girlfriend.'

R11 There is a large community of German descent in Argentina. Brazil too.

R16 I saw that; I knew those two (the gf,or whatever she is, posted an IG story as well: a photo of Sascha and Melo; wishing them a Happy Valentine's Day. LOL. They love to tickle us.) would not be able to stay quiet on Valentine's day.

R18 Yuck. This Sascha/Melo thing has completely outstayed its welcome.

Y'all still getting your panties in a twist over two jocks just being two jocks....

I just saw the Monfils/Dzumur match and Dzumhur kept blowing up at the umpire about certain details, calls, not replaying points. As if Gael wasn't pummelling him anyway (the final score was 6-1 6-2). Why is Tsitsipas so bad against him?

R19 It certainly has; and the gf is just as annoying.

For some of the players, the 'girlfriends' are just groupies that are picked up in one tournament, dragged along for sex through 2 or 3 of the following tournaments, then discarded when the inevitable "where is our relationship going?" question is asked.

Doha title will be between Halep and Mertens. Halep def. Svitolina in 3 sets and Mertens did the same to Kerber

Jared Donaldson (coached by JM Gambill) is making a comeback at the Delray Beach tournament next week (and Del Potro too?)

R19: True the expiration of that nonsense was long time ago. Anyway everything is better than another video with his girlfriend, that was diabetes inducing

Medvedev is on fire, he is playing really well

Melo outing himself as a homophobe should make his name banned from this board.

Elise was surprisingly good against Kerber today (and Bertens yesterday). The coaching change did her some favours, she's hitting so much harder and getting heaps of free points behind her serve now.

Halep should be the favourite but she often has a letdown after some good results. And doesn't have the best finals record.

Wawrinka overpowered Shapovalov

I couldn’t dislike Stan the Doofus any more if I tried.

R29: Stan is a nice guy and an amazing player when he is on, probably Shapo will never be that good but hey he at least love Putin.

R26: I don't know if he was overcompensating or he is simply stupid. Anyway, Melo is simply known because he is Sascha's friend. I know he is a good doubles player, but unless you are the Bryan's doubles players rarely got any recognition

Stan's trademark finger point to the head to signal his brilliance is nauseating.

R31 he started doing that and the yelling in matches when he made the transition from a seemingly journeyman player in his mid 20s to a top player under the tutelage of Peter Lundgren. He never stopped doing it even when they parted ways. Before Lundgren, Stan was quiet but mentally frail

Denis "Shopbottom"Shapovalov, the Rapper

Denis "Shopbottom"Shapovalov, the Rapper

R34 cringe

hmm the New York Open SF are Querrey vs. young Canadian Schnur and then rematch Isner vs. Opelka I've never seen Schnur play before.

[quote] young Canadian Schnur

Is he like yount Grigor?

To quote a YouTube comment: “Basilashvili, Hottest Georgian since Stalin.”

So Mertens just won Doha over Halep in 3 sets. Definitely her biggest title so far

Monfils avenged his SF loss to Medvedev last week with a 3 set win today in Rotterdam

Dubai draw is out...Osaka and Kvitova are the top 2 seeds. Mladenovic might be forced to win her first match of the year as she drew WC 27 year old #406 player from Oman. lmfao Muguruza has drawn Yastremska AGAIN

Marseille draw also out. Tsitsipas and Coric are the top 2 seeds. Monfils and Tsonga will be playing for their third straight week. Hopefully they're not overplaying and get injured again

Delray Beach draw is out too. Del Potro makes his return to the tour. Tiafoe will attempt to defend his first ever title but there are a lot of big servers in the field so that's going to be hard

help

wow Wawrinka suddenly has control of his forehand again. He hit some great winners in his set 3 win over Nishikori today

Stan is back, well he never was known for his regularity, he has ups and downs but he he is on he is fantastic (and he is one of the few who is able to give Djokovic a scare no matter how well Nole is that day)

[quote] Mladenovic might be forced to win her first match of the year

Tehe.

Thiem hit himself out of the match against Schwartzman. It ended in a third set tiebreak.

Schnur upsets Querrey in 3 sets but actually also had the chance to do it in 2

Halep is so fucking bad in finals. I'd be thrilled to see the draw and that she would be my opponent. Mentally unclutch and even if she goes a set up she will just gift it to you. I guess this is what happens when you have to kill yourself just to win a point, running like a bull left and right and shrieking absurdly just to put balls back in the court. It's taxing to WATCH, let alone to do.

If she doesn't develop a net game soon there's no way her body holds up. SEVERAL times in the match she would drag Mertens so wide she was off the court, Mertens would hit slow defensive slices just to get the ball back in, and ANY other player would come forward and take them out of the air for a winner. The balls were at Simona's shoulder height. But she just keeps retreating back to the baseline and running, running, running...

[quote] The balls were at Simona's shoulder height.

Well that would be a first.

baby Isner Opelka edges Isner for the second time this year in all tiebreak sets. Isner was up a mini break in the second set tiebreak but Opelka turned it around and then took the third as well.

so the New York Open will give us a new ATP titlist tomorrow as Schnur vs. Opelka! go young guns!

and we forgot to congratulate first time titlist Juan Ignacio Londero who won Cordoba last week over Pella.

Rio draw is now out. Thiem is top seed with Fognini as #2

R45 As a (club) player of Simona’s build... it is depressingly easy to hit a passing shot against someone who is 5’6”. She does need some more tools, though. A reliable drop shot would do wonders.

What a bad look for the WTA that Mladenovic and the Omani wildcard (#406) was put on centre court and the BT broadcast. The level is beyond terrible. All you need to do to beat Kiki is to keep the ball in the court, but sadly Al Nabhani is unable to do so. Double faults in abundance, terrible errors, lucky netcords.... a mess.

On another court you have Hsieh v Sevastova (who is a top 10 seed), with glorious shotmaking and variety. Two of the most interesting players to watch, yet the one that is being broadcast to the world is the tragedy described above.

Opelka's game is incredibly boring. There's no law that says that if you have a big seve the rest of your game has to suck

R50 what? There isn't?

[quote]For some of the players, the 'girlfriends' are just groupies that are picked up in one tournament, dragged along for sex through 2 or 3 of the following tournaments, then discarded when the inevitable "where is our relationship going?" question is asked.

The amount of delusion and conjecture in this post is staggering. How the fuck would you even know this?

R52: But he is totally right. It happens in tennis and in most of profesional sports. It doesn't matter if the athlete is not particularly good looking they had tons of groupies and the athletes use them for sex and get rid of them after a couple of weeks. And i don't know in tennis but in soccer the players have certain taste for trashy girls. In some cases unless the girlfriend is someone who make the players profile higher, it would be nothing more than a hook up.

Tennis players even have it easier because every week they are in a different place

Of course not everyone is the same. Most soccer players and incredibly dumb but you can spend your day listening to Juan Mata talk and never get tired because he is inteligent and articulate.

Pretty sure most players don't parade these groupie-of-the-week hits around as girlfriends though. Except Safin maybe.

R54: Yes, but with social media i think it's more difficult to deal with all that without any consequences. You only need a pic on social media or the press the get a "girlfriend"

Has anyone been to the Italian Open? I’ll be in Rome on vacation while the tournament is on. I’m wondering if I should attend some matches. Is there one hotel where the players stay?

Things I learned from the New York Open: Doubles specialist Andreas Mies is a real cutie. He's into the finals, and will move to a career high ranking next week.

R57 ping ping ping.

Did anyone else just see Kasatkina BARELY scrape by Frech, a Polish qualifier (CHR 115) to win her first match since last year? The Pole choked from 4-1 up in the final set. One of the worst tennis matches i've ever seen. I reckon the Mladenobitch / Al Nabhani one was actually better.

Anyone catch the WTA interview with Osaka? She basically suggests it was Sasha making her miserable the last few months. She seems a bit off though, this excerpt feels like a massive contradiction:

Asked what she’ll be looking for in a coach moving forward, Osaka responded: “For me, just to have a positive mindset. I don’t want someone that’s in the box saying negative stuff. That would be the worst.

“Yeah, someone that’s kind of direct, not afraid to say things to my face. I’d rather someone say it directly to me than go around my back. That’s one of the biggest things.”

Halep officially dumps her coach Van Cleemput (former coach of Goffin) after one week:

"I had a trial week with the new coach and we decided to stop because we were not a good fit together. So here I'm alone and now I'm without a coach."

"He's a good person, a very nice person, but on court the chemistry is not there."

Does she Help need help?

La Monf!

Match point, Monfils + a nice moment at net...

Osaka is talented, but she seems developmentally challenged.

Not as developmentally challenged as those who don't bother to read the thread, and thus post the same shallow observation ad nauseam, R64. Introversion and discomfort with public speaking don't equal being developmentally challenged.

They also don't rule it out, R65.

Osaka: I don't want to say anything bad, word salad, word salad, but I really didn't like Sascha. I was depressed in Australia.

Cecchinato destroys Schwartzman to win Buenos Aires

Poor Lil' Diego!

Muguruza finally gets a win over Yastremska though it took her 3 sets to do it

Bouchard wins her first round over Lapko! title #2 here we come!

Muguruza has always a lot of trouble against big hitters (curiously she always plays well against Serena). At least this time she fought Yastremska really hits hard, but sometimes she lose focus and the ball goes nowhere. She is not a very interesting player like Anisimova, but she has big weapons and she is destined to be a top player

So Sascha B is a bit bitchy behind the scenes. Interesting.

R72 I could have told you that

R72 It sounds like Sascha B was bitching about Osaka to one of his other friends in the tennis world and it got back to Naomi.

I saw The Guardian tried to spin this as showing Naomi as 'steelier than ever' or something but if anything it shows her up as more immature than ever.

[quote] Introversion and discomfort with public speaking don't equal being developmentally challenged.

I’m introverted and uncomfortable with others, but Osaka can barely put a sentence through together in English or Japanese. She speaks somewhat in baby talk with barely formed or inconsistent concepts. And I’m someone who likes her. I think she’s a breath of fresh air. That air happens to smell of baby food though.

Why sugarcoat it?

Osaka talks like a retard

Cecchinato: 33 tour-level matches won = 3 titles

Benneteau: 273 tour-level matches won = 0 titles

Just because Osaka gets tongue-tied in the moment doesn't mean she talks like "a retard". Her cadences and mode of expression are very similar to a lot of Florida girls/Valley girls in her age group. Do you all expect her to be full of snark and condescension and canned press talk like some of her predecessors?

I think we should give Naomi some time to get more comfortable. She's still very young.

Sloane is a bubbly valley Florida girl who has more natural charisma.

Ostapenko is stereotypically eastern European with her personality

Muguruza can be charming or cold and aloof.

Halep is very matter-of-fact when she speaks and often lifeless

R78 what are you even saying? Nobody suggested they would like her to be more snarky and condescending.... to me she just has that annoying, completely affected *totally awkward!!* youtube generation voice that half my students have. Which isn't really the problem here (or the interesting part of the discussion), regarding what happened between her and Sasha.

One wonders, with Halep dropping her coach immediately after one tournament, whether she has been messaging Bajin on Whatsapp.............

Diego was abhorrent in his final today, poor guy.

There were some monster chokes on the womens side too, Ekaterina Makarova viciously bagelled Sasnovich in the first set and at one point in the second set was 6-0, 4-1 up, but she lost the match in three. Still hasn't won a match since the US Open. A Sabatini/Novotna level choke.

Tortellini queen Sara Errani was up a 6-4, 3-0 and 40-0 on her own [terrible] serve. She lost the match in three sets, only winning another three games against qualifier Jorovic.

Come now, Osaka isn't 'young' anymore.

She's in her 20's yet talks like an infant. She might have achieved success at a relatively young age compared to other recent champions but she still comes across as borderline brain-injured. There are younger players out there whose first language isn't English who can string a sentence together better than Naomi.

She has an impressive game but she's thick as shit.

I'm simply reiterating what you've just stated, R80, i.e. that Osaka's way of speaking is very similar to much of her generation, especially in areas like Florida. That way of speaking may be awkward and annoying and tiresome to some listeners, but that doesn't make her "a retard". Also some listeners seem to have a greater affinity for the mean girls' snark and condescension, and those listeners automatically equate snark and condescension with intelligence, but I'm only speculating as to the reason why they equate Valley speak with retardation.

Yay La Monf!

I would love to see him win a major (the French!!) before he retires, but I'm not holding my breath.

The awkward, mumbling shtick used to be cute when she was some up-and-comer who had never played on the biggest stage, but as number one she needs to get a grip. Some of these robotic Eastern European girls, who never went to school but still speak five languages, speak English better than Naomi.

R84 It would make sense were Japanese her first language and English her second. But she can't even speak the language of the country she plays for, can't speak her father's Creole and her English is embarrassingly bad. It's like she grew up in a bunker or something.

How is Qualifier doing?

New York Open: Opelka def. Schnur 6-1 6-7(7) 7-6(7) it took 3 match points and Opelka choked the second set away. In the third set after saving match point #2, Schnur then hit what appeared to be an ace but was later ruled a fault. He then double faulted and Opelka closed it out quickly.

First title for baby Isner (though to be fair he favors his backhand and Isner is a forehander)

To the relief of some, Isner appeared to be on his last legs and nearing retirement. Now an even better version appears on the horizon.

[quote] Halep is very matter-of-fact when she speaks and often lifeless

Is she Pliskbotic?

I don't find Osaka's manner of speech nearly as annoying or defective as others on this board, but then I grew up in California and have heard those cadences for many years. There's nothing wrong with her grammar; it's just her articulation that's awkward. I'd still rather listen to her any day than the flat robotic droning Ovas.

Naomi Osaka is the Dorothy Parker of our time and we pity those of you who just don't get it.

Their pooled emotions wouldn't fill a teaspoon.

[quote]Isner appeared to be on his last legs and nearing retirement.

Lest we all forget, he just had a BABY!

I died at tits and osaka's attempts at flirting.

R94 Details please?

My pillow talk in German is better than Naomi's English and Japanese combined!

Not that it was him or means anything, but someone claiming to be Sasha was on Grindr at the US open - blank profile, weird red light face photo sent. I asked him shouldn't he be busy with Osaka, and he blocked me.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Osaka's play now that he is out.

Monfils is looking hotter than before. Whatever mojo he got with his form, he's gotten with his looks right now

R98 GEMS

Wow, R96, do you pillow talk in 25 languages, too, depending on who's in bed next to you?

[quote]Monfils is looking hotter than before.

I had him bitches! But then I settled down with Hugo. Don't hate me!

Ah, Golovin, that was an big implossion of career.

A psicological study of Garbi must be fascinating, she is inteligent and well spoken, she can be very charming and a cold bitch diva. Her personality seems to be as bipolar as her game

In Dubai today Garcia was the only seed to win. Doha winner Mertens, Kontaveit and Goerges all lost

R101 Funnily enough last week in Doha Golovin was interviewing Svitolina and specifically asked about their relationship and their instagram lol.

R103 It was a good win for Garcia too! Beat Pavlyuchenkova 62 60. She seemed to be on fire.

Regarding her girlfriend Garbine Muguruza, I really don't think she's *that* fascinating or intelligent to deconstruct. She's just kind of up herself, having achieved a lot in tennis at a young age with relative ease, and then putting in no effort or willingness to improve since. Even her attitude on court seems completely entitled, she is shocked or offended when she's losing as if she doesn't get clobbered week after week. She frequently retires when a set down against a lower ranked opponent to 'save face'.

She is pretty, and once upon a time was a talented ballstriker, but as far as personality? All I see is ego.

Naomi to Stefanos: Why do you have no friends?

(When the two most awkward players talk to each other).

Let's be honest, Stefanos is younger than most on the circuit and he seems way more inteligent than the players around his age. I find very understable that he has no friends.

Anyway, in Australia he trained with 18 spanish player Nicola Kuhn. Nicola thanked him on twitter (and he seemed to apreciate Stefanos book recomendations). Nicola is a very promising player and he seems a nice guy, he was injured last year when he just reached top 200 so his ranking will go up this season if he keeps progressing

lol Naomi and Stefanos would be a hilarious and cute couple but I'm glad they're at least friendly-ish. We'll see if they keep communicating after the DM reveal though

Whyyyy would be post private dms to a story?!

Naomi better watch out before she gets a smack from Maria Sakkari!! Lol.

So Titsy is straight too?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

So RBA, Domi , Sasha, Titsy

I have a long streak of defeating DLers in recent years

I hate to say it, as I can't stand her, but Bouchard is playing well against Halep.

I agree, Bouchard was incredible today (by her standards) R113. Even when she had her stomach issues and her first serve %age dropped to 38% in the second set, she still made Halep work for it. Striking the ball the best she has since Wimbledon 2014.

She might be a 'big match player' these days though, she really raised her level against Sharapova to beat her after criticising her too. But it remains to be seen whether she can play at that level against the lower ranked players on a smaller court.

Pencil do your work!

Was William Bouchard also there?

R110: There's nothing remotely sexual in what he post.

But if he gets aware of gay rumours he'll get a girlfriend in no time

He's now claiming his instagram accounts were attacked and the hacker posted (and had?) that convo with Osaka.

attacked = hacked, doh

One of the weirdest sights of the year. Kiki Mladenobitch absolutely thumping Naomi Osaka in the first set. Wins it 6-3, having broken Naomi's serve 3 times.

Kiki has only won one match since last year, against #406 Omani WC Fatma Al Nabhani in the first round.

Mladenovic is thinking "Probably should have fired your coach, huh?" in all 37 of her languages.

Feliciano Lopez is a TOP!

Naomi has now only held 2 out of 8 times in this match.

Lucky for her this second set is still on serve because she's playing a walking BYE.

It's done!! Kiki '25 languages' Mladenobitch def. [1] Naomi Osaka 63, 63.

WTA in shambles, every player dialling Sasha right now.

Ugh even when trying to compliment her opponent she comes across as a nasty cow.

Mladenovic has Resting Bitch Face even when she's smiling.

Bertens lost a close match. She seems to have a good amount of those.

What a terrible loss for Naomi.

I'm a few thousand kms from Dubai but I'm pretty sure I can hear Bajin laughing from here.

Was Naomi an unforced error machine? How did she not at least take the match to 3 sets?

If that's the most compromising thing a hacker could find on Stefano's phone he is pretty safe. It was of bad taste to show a private conversation but it was pretty harmless.

The fact that Osaka lost (and very clearly) with someone who was having a terrible year (after having a terrible last year) is not good at all. Sascha must be laughing out loud

Feli Lopez with dat azz would sin against God and Nature to be a top

Before Sascha, Naomi was a more erratic version of Keys. With Sascha she was a more consistent Keys. Still, one would have thought that she would have learned something that stuck with her. Reports were that she wasn't really prepared to play in Dubai though. She'll have a couple weeks off to prep for her IW defense now

Osaka broke down again in tears at her press conference.

A forty-year old unranked, wild card qualifier (Greta Arn) is winning matches at Budapest, beating girls twenty years younger. Peak era!

Virginia Slims of Indian Wells?

You know,I never understood what Dominic saw in her? Perhaps it is her coarseness he is attracted to.

A choice quote from Charming Mladenovic's presser:

"I know I'm capable of beating great players. I did that in the past exactly on this court, beating Kaja Pliskova. I had also great wins v great players. You know that. I'm not going to name one after another."

Tsits has "no time for relationships"

I'm starting to think that maybe Stefanos is inteligent but he definitively is not smart

FAA!! Felix def. Fognini 6-2 6-3 definitely the second biggest upset of the day (after Mladenovic def. Osaka). Felix is still only 18 and Fognini is #16 in the world

R140 I dunno if it's an upset, Fognini is now on a 4 match losing streak!! (Still far from Mladenovic's record 15). All these vulturing attempts in South America have failed, I didn't see the match but is he still carrying some extra holiday weight? He didn't look as insanely fit as usual in Australia.

Very slow start to the year, he better get it together before clay season where he picks up most of his wins.

R141 given Felix's age and ranking it's an upset. Also Fognini is a very good clay player and Felix hadn't shown until today that he could play on the surface.

Fognini's body still looks a bit soft.

Fog looked disinterested as usual. Not much of an upset then. He keeps saying he doesn't want to play the South American swing anymore but then keeps entering the tournaments.

Nice to see Felix finally make good on one of the 8,000 wild cards he's received recently.

A post on the last thread said there was no longer a South American clay swing. Is there or isn’t there?

No there definitely is. Cordoba --> Buenos Aires --> Rio --> Sao Paolo all on clay

Thiem a loser in Rio!

A lucky loser?

R144 I think a few of us were more talking about the WTA, who play a truncated clay schedule, all on red clay in Europe and poorly scheduled (Bucharest randomly occurs after grass tournaments like Wimbledon). The only other clay tournaments for the women are in Rabat and Charleston (the latter on green clay), they got rid of a lot of the popular old events like Amelia Island.

But it was more about the fact that we've lost the great indoor (often on carpet) season on fast courts that gave us so many entertaining matches in the 90s-00s. All in favour of 100 slow hardcourt tournaments in China.

Was there ever a Virginia Slims of Amelia Island?

Tiawful.

omg Tiafoe is still an inconsistent headcase. He was serving at 6-3 6-5 30-0 when he choked the set away. Then he had 4-1 in the third set. Then Evans served for the match at 5-4 but choked himself. Then Tiafoe played the worst game of the match to get broken at love and Evans served it out 7-5. I get he was feeling pressure to defend his first ever title but this was such a winnable match. He definitely does better when there's no pressure on him.

[quote] Tiawful.

Tiafoe

Tiafriend

Tiaofe in 2019:

Hopman Cup: 0-6 (including doubles) Sydney: 0-1 Austrialian Open: 4-1 New York: 0-1 Delray Beach: 0-1

He needs to get a real coach.

Nishikori team or DelPo team?

Sorry: Nishioka team or DelPo team?

Nishioka went all Diva in China last year when people kept calling him Nishikori.

[quote] Nishioka went all Diva in China last year when people kept calling him Nishikori.

In my case it was autocorrect. I guess I’ve written “Nishikori” sufficient times that anything similar autorrect to that.

I feel for Naomi. She's obviously extremely shy and shuns attention, so this bright new spotlight must be incredibly hard for her to adjust to.

R158 that's why I think we should give her time to adjust. She was in the 60s last year at this time until winning Indian Wells. Her USO win was also out of nowhere given what she had done before.

OK, so there's still hope for Titsy.

it's back to reality for Kiki M; she lost to CSN (7-5 7-5) after being up 5-1 in the 1st set and 3-1 in the 2nd

Carlo team

Muguruza won just 3 games today against Svitolina and did not hold serve in the first set. Ouch

Muguruza is obviously not in form, but at least in previous matches she fought to win. Today she was all the pathetic she can be.

Given her last years result one could think she will get her feet on the ground and start to try to go back to her former form but it seems that's not going to happen soon. The problem with her is that she got used to win big titles without really being playing well before the tournament

Martina Navratilova collapse is comeplte

LGBT group severs links with Navratilova over transgender comments

How the times have changed. The irony isn't?

link

R165: It's a storm in a tea cup, the truth is the big majority of tennis fans totally agree with her

Almost everyone agrees with her. If Renee Richards had transitioned at 20 (instead of 40) and started playing tennis soon after she would've won numerous grand slams.

^ agree

That would be the only way Nick Kyrgios would have any chance of winning one. Welcome, Nikki Kyrgios!

LGBT groups are filled to the brim with crazy shit-house rats. Martina is absolutely correct.

[quote] The problem with her is that she got used to win big titles

They all want big titties. All of them!

Just saw PHH's bag check on Tennis Channel.... il est beau et gai.

Shapovalov loses to Kukushkin. Now Kukushkin is at his best indoors but this is still a bad loss.

[quote]il est beau et gai

So what lucky mofo is tapping that?

Hsieh Su Wei notches back to back top 5 wins against Kerber and Pliskova! Into her first Premier (5) level SF at the ripe young age of 33. Pliskova breadsticked her 6-1 in the second and led 5-1 in the third set, but all of Su Wei's bamboozling left her physically and mentally fried and with some aggressive play she was able to come back and take the match.

Kuznetsova on Muguruza and Sumyk's disastrous relationship:

"We used to get along with Garbine. One time we were on a plane together we sat next to each other, chatted. She was asking me something. I was sharing my experience. But the team you create around yourself influences you. And everybody who works with Sumyk stops communicating [with other players]. That's his work strategy. I'm not judging them. But the tour is a lonely place and it's even harder to deal with it if you don't talk to others."

R177 where did you get that?

Russian tennis twitter (Oleg S), I believe it's either from an interview or commentary (while she was off sick) she gave in Russian. In the past Kuznetsova has publicly called them out for Sumyk's illegal coaching from the stands as well.

R175

I’ve heard from multiple people close to Osaka that she bristled at how much credit Bajin was taking and was especially rankled when he accepted the WTA Coach of the Year Award and referred to Naomi as “a good student.”

And you guys say that I am a cunt while Naomi is so sweeeeeeeeeeet

Pierre has a long-time girlfriend but, in English, he does come off as super queeny.

wow Bencic is on a roll this week. She won a super tight match over Sabalenka yesterday and just took out Halep in 3 sets today

Shes is a very good player but hasnt seen a result like this in awhile. I've always liked her. She doesnt have the overwhelming power of many players but has lots of skill.

R183, Did you saw final set tiebreaker of her match against Sablenka?That was peak WTA

I remember Bencic saying she was very frustrated because she was a top 10 player before the injury (she got there very young, even without any GS great performance) and the dificulties she was having in her come back. But it seems she is ready to rise her ranking again.

Humbert is having a great transition from challengers to the atp tour. It's curious that being so young and from a country that generally pressures their young players into a premature spotlight he is having such discrete profile. On the top 100 only De Miñaur, Shapovalov and Tstsipas are younger than him

I felt bad for Bencic with her injury struggles, but I can't stand her bratty demeanour on the court. Sulking, smashing her racquet, arguing, feeling entitled to points she doesn't win... in the Halep match she was shouting at her father and even the ballkids. I think it's even more annoying because she has the face of a bratty little child with those chubby cheeks, lol. Also her boyfriend looks about 20 years older than her...

Rooting for Su Wei to win this title! A nice veteran player with an actually interesting and completely unique game. Plus she's beaten THREE top 10 seeds just to make it here. Just found out she's also in the doubles SF, what an effort. However it will be tough for the two lower ranked players to beat Elina Svitolina (2 time defending champ with the least time on court), and Petra Kvitova (who was terrifyingly brutal in her QF match).

Gleb

Cecchinato will overtake Fognini to become the new Italian No. 1!

The Fog goes out on little cat feet

Humbert into the semis in Marseilles. He'll be pushing the Top 50 soon if he keeps this form up. The French need a young player to break through as there can't be too many miles on the clock left for Tsonga, Gasquet, Simon et al.

a classy tweet by Ryan Harrison

wow for Bencic! Another tight 3 set win today over Svitolina.

Kvitova won in 3 over Hsieh too

R192 he's mad his ranking his plummeted this year. Remember he was supposed to be the next Roddick lol

[quote] Remember he was supposed to be the next Roddick lol

Future Hall of Famer.

Why American tennis players and its tennis fans [including those who are on DL] are so political?[whther they are right wing or left winger

This tweet by Ryan Harrison is beyond tasteless.

Even tennis commentator of USA has to peddle to politics in everything.

R192: It's not classy but i think it's understable this time. Young accussed him of racism but he was the only one he hear anything and there was absolutely no prove. The fact that they can't stand each other way before the incident doesn't help

R191: He has a really nice game. The fact that he is totally underrated can help him in the long run because the french had a tendency to smother their young stars and center court spotlight too soon and the press publishing they are the next big thing generally doesn't help at all

It would be better if we all just concetrate on men 's asses

Iirc even Young himself didn't hear anything, it was his girlfriend in the stands who claimed after the match that Harrison had said something racist.

R198: It was a really bad idea go public about it, he had no proves and it was a very serious thing. I don't like Harrison but i understand why he is resentful

Wawrinka ass in purple Calvin Klein underwear.

^ I’d hit that

DelPo team

If Harrison's ranking continues to drop, he'll maybe be playing the same Challengers as Young, and if they meet up, that would certainly be a major popcorn match. Who would win? On current form and ranking, Harrison on paper, but those Challengers are so intense, cutthroat, that anything could happen.

Both aren't all that pleasant and have probably smashed more rackets than they have victories on the main tour. But Young is notoriously mean to ballboys.

McDonald beats Del Potro in his first tournament back. Delpo looked tired (but he always does) and the knee was bothering him.

Very impressive for 18 year old FAA Felix Auger-Aliassime to reach the Rio SF. He won a #NextGen battle today against Munar

Serena Williams is to present an Oscar.

"And the Academy Award goes to....

I HAVE A DAUGHTER!"

I was watching a video of who were the top 10 18 and under players a year and a half ago and it's very interesting how some of the players progress while others stalled.

Some of the list became top 30 (Tsitsipas, Shapovalov, De Miñaur), and Felix who was the younger on the list became top 100 this week. There are other who showed a slow progressión (Ymer, Moutet). Some were injured last year, Kuhn, whose ranking is very similar, and Altauer who is way lower (both have few points to defend and are back on the circuit so it's expected their rankings to improve). Blancaneaux ranking is way lower without an explanation. And surprisingly, the one of that list Casper Ruud is almost in the same position a year an a half later

Let’s do a DL tennis poster bag check. What’s in your tennis bag?

PHH, I wish

Kukushkin has a weird forehand, but he was very effective today. He is playing very well this well, anyway great week for Ugo Humbert.

Tsitsipas was very solid in his semifinal

Ugly tournament in Rio gets worse as one of the semi-finalists (Bedene) withdraws with an injury.

and Bencic does it again! 3 set win over Kvitova to take the Dubai title. Amazing week for her

Tsitsipas def. Goffin in straights and will face surprise finalist Kukushkin who took out Humbert

Men's Dubai draw out...Nishikori and Federer are top 2 seeds

I think Stefanos is playing too many tournaments. I know he is very young and has energy, but he is playing every week. Hopefully he'll take a little break after Miami

Sao Paulo draw out. Sousa and Jaziri are the top 2 seeds

R204, I didn't realize that. I've watched him enough and haven't noticed. Any stories?

Well, lately everyone seems to treat ballboys like crap. This used to be a gentlemen's sport.

To be honest, Young's career is a pale shadow of what it was supposed to be (of course there are way worse cases like Carlos Boluda) so it's quite understable that he is a bit frustrated. Anyway, a great junior career doesn't equate to a good pro one, and even less in men tennis. I think he was incredibly hyped for some things that has very little to do with tennis.

Of course, Harrison can say the same (even if he was not that hyped), and it's even worse for his little brother who was supposed to be the better one (that Christian Harrison - Carlos Boluda final on Les petits as was like a curse)

How does Federer treat ballboys?

A commentator on Eurosport during the AO said Tsitsipas is the only bloke who never fails to say please and thank you to the ballkids. I'm guessing that includes Fed.

Les Petits!

Fed Cup!

Rogers Cup!

Where do we talk about them?

R220: I think Stefanos was rude to a ballgirl last year. He apologized and said he was not aware so i suppose he is very careful now

Nice to see Isner lose to such a low ranked player. Isner, and his coach Justin Gimelstob, can eat a bag of dicks.

amazing for FAA!!! Felix at age 18 is now into the Rio final with a 3 set win over clay demon Cuevas. Very impressive.

Poor McDonald lost 6-3 0-6 0-6 to Albot in Delray Beach. After the first set it looked like he'd win the second easily but everything really flipped

We're guaranteed 2 new titlists now in both Rio and Delray Beach

can't wait until Isner's Miami points fall off. No fucking way will he come close to defending it

Acapulco draws out

Nadal and A. Zverev are the top 2 seeds for the men

Sloane and Collins for the women. Collins has drawn Azarenka. Victoria just cannot catch a break with draws in the last year.

Apart from the pleasure in seeing Isner going down in flames, I'm glad to see Dan Evans (sniff sniff) getting back into form. He'd always been an exciting talent who seemed to find new and interesting ways to derail his career. Maybe this time he can keep it together.

Dan Evans said immigrants shouldn't be on the UK Davis Cup team.

Actually - Azarenka should win that match.

I'm not denying that Evans is capable of saying something that ignorant, but are you sure he wasn't referring to cases such as Aljaz Bedene who conveniently switch nationalities part way through their careers, rather than 'immigrants' per se? I've Googled 'Dn Evans DavisCup immigrants' and nothing's coming up.

Big-serving AVU is in Budapest final.

I was astonished to FAA. Never saw him play so well before. He was playing ridiculously good against sexy Pablo

If Dan Evans has a problem with 'immigrants' he might want to have a word with Johanna Konta and Kyle Edmund.

Though like R233 I do suspect any comments were referring to Bedene.

[quote]are you sure [Dan Evans] wasn't referring to cases such as Aljaz Bedene who conveniently switch nationalities part way through their careers

He most certainly was referring to Bedene, but it was the way he made his case that was offensive. When asked in a presser what it felt like to have dropped to fourth best British player now that Bedene had moved ahead of him, he said he was still the third Brit. Pretty fucking offensive, as Bedene had been living, working and paying taxes in the U.K. for about ten years by that stage ( I think he was about 18 when he first permanently moved to the UK), and had asked for and received UK citizenship two years before Evans’s first comments after having gone through the entire naturalization process.

The real corker came at a Wimbledon presser, though, about a year later, when he stated that Bedene had no claim to being British: “I mean, it’s pretty clear he doesn’t speak in an English accent.”

Whether you can play Davis Cup for country A after having already played for country B is an open debate (my idea is you should be able to play for whichever country you hold a valid passport for; Evans and quite a few others legitimately hold the opposite is true), but Evans’s comments were just plainly racist.

TItsy to the final of Marseille

I don't think Bedene can be considered as someone who only changed nationalities for convenience/money purposes. Like R236 said, he had been living and training in Britain for a decade already when he switched, and seemed to be something of an Anglophile in fact. If he had learned to get rid of his accent, he would've probably been accepted more easily. But some people never manage to shake the accent, even if they are perfectly fluent in the new language otherwise.

Evans is a twat, but its still great to see him beat Isner!

Love this kid...he and Tsitsipas as NextGen reps are head and shoulders above arrogant Zverev and Putin-loving rapper Shapo.

Tsitsipas now has 2 titles. I expect him to get a few more this year

He has a solid game and if he is mentally strong he'll be one to fear in very little time.

I think Shapo is one of those players that rise very fast but never reach the potential. His game is very spectacular but it has a lot of flaws. He is very lucky he will only live the decline of Federer, Nadal and Nole because he really didn't have a chance against players that solid. Of course he could improve his flaws but that's not what happens once you are on the circuit. He seems to get frustrated too soon.

Zverev has a girlfriend and that's all that matters. The truth is he is very difficult to read. He is regular on the circuit, he is able to play at a good level for months, his results on masters 1000 are really great for such young player but on GS he is totally subpar. And his reaction on Australia doesn't give me hope he is goidg to change that. He is a top 4 player, he didn't have to face Nadal, Roger or Nole till semis, but he always find a way to lose against the first decent player who cross his path

Is Gimelstob still with Tennis Channel? I haven't seen him lately.

If he hasnt been let go then maybe they are keeping him off air while all this stuff is going down.

Zverev is only a consistent top four guy if three more guys retire.

Stefanos has the top 10 really near and with Isner tanking he could be there really soon

[quote]Is Gimelstob still with Tennis Channel? I haven't seen him lately

I'm not sure, but he was at the Isner - Evans match in Delray Beach

Hopefully tennis channel keeps him off air.

Have any more details emerged about this attack he's accused of? I think I read somewhere that it happened when he was out Trick or Treating with his kids or something, which is crazy.

funny you guys should ask. Update from 2 days ago. Gimelblob is taking a leave of absence from Tennis Channel until case is over. Going to court soon He's denying the charges

It's the best thing he can do. He is not a pleasant man but i suppose he avoid being publicly homophobic and sexist on air to keep the job

Van Uytvanck wins Budapest 1-6 7-5 6-2 over Vondrousova for her 3rd title. She loves indoors which is probably good given her paleness. Hopefully she wears a ton of sunblock year round

She has a very fast and weird forehand. She really fought in the semis to overcome the five match balls Alexandrova had

R252 he likely was forced to by the network . People were complaining on twitter to remove him immediately after the news of his arrest broke

Thanks, R250.

Titsy, bitches!

Djere wins Rio

Felix :( but amazing week he might win a title this year

Djere is hot.

What a dignified speech (in a language not his own) from Djere. Very sad to hear what he's gone through and that his parents cannot witness his current success.

WHY is Serena at the Oscars? She looks like hell with all that back fat spilling out.

Delray Beach final: Albot def. Evans 3-6 6-3 7-6(7)

welcome to the titles club, Djere and Albot !

Djere will climb up to rank 37

FCC to 60

Titsy to 11

Kukushkin to 39

Albot to 52

Evans to 105

So beautiful when shirtless

R261 what is your problem?? Don’t you know she is a mother now??? Doesn’t that count for anything????

She had a BABY!!????!!

Sure, R264, if you like Skeletor.

Surprised Serena didn't drag her baby on stage with her.

Khachanov against Basilashvili, hmmm...

^ can i be in the middle?

meldonium @vanity fair Oscar party

Mother! @vanity fair Oscar party

Young Grigor @vanity fair Oscar party

Sharapova's hair looks a mess

lmao Grigor off partying in hollywood rather than trying to get his game back on track at a tournament

Djere has a nice game, and he was the best player yesterday. Anyway Felix ended a series of bad results and he seems very good on clay, the only thing that i don't like on him is his grunt. He was on the verge of top100 for a good while and now suddenly he is near top 50

R264: Sascha is cute, but he is too skinny to be hot. A I find curious so many tennis players were at the oscars in recent years.,

Khachanov is really struggling to win matches so far this year

Khachanov and Coric are there to fill the void Berdych retirement will make. Both have talent, both are able to play really well and cause upsets but both are not number one material and if they are lucky they will get a Marin Cilic type of career

Jack Sock has a new lady friend

Bimbette

That’s not the same one he’d been dating for the last year or so?

[quote]That’s not the same one he’d been dating for the last year or so?

He dated British player Katie Boulter for a while and another blonde before that....they all look like each other though

Updates:

Sloane's recently fired coach Kamau Murray is now coaching Puig who beat Sakkari today. If both reach the QF this week they will face off.

Wawrinka def. Harrison in 2 tight sets. Harrison will fall out of the top 100

Gambill is now a commentator on the Tennis Channel! Making his debut now in the Tiafoe-Thompson match. He'll be on their recap show after too

Is JMG a Gimelstob replacement? Is Tennis Channel putting a stob to the Gimel?

Gimelstob is on a leave of absence while the case is pending.

Glad Tennis Channel has added some eye candy. James Blake, Prakash Amritraj and Jan Michael Gambill are all nice to look at and seem like nice guys too

Thompson the loser. I am excited about him. Leyton should drop him immediately otherwise he would rub his loser attitude on Demon

[quote]Harrison will fall out of the top 100

We are pleased.

I don't think I've ever heard JMG speak. Does he have GayVoice?

R288 a little bit. He's not flaming and clueless straight people won't be able to guess but most gays will be able to tell.

you can hear him speak here

btw lol Gambill went to an Elton John concert recently...I wonder if he had backstage passes. Never forget JMG was part of that infamous big gay boat trip Elton had several years ago

[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.]

Elton's partner even pinched JMG's nipple

R290 Thanks for that. I follow JMG on instagram so apologies for my laziness.

I so wish he'd come out.

JMG and Malek are just friends, geez.

Will JMG broadcast shirtless?

R296 I don't think JMG owns any shirts anymore.

R292, Who is the blond at far left? Is he Trevor Donovan?

One should remember that Colton Haynes [when he was in the closet] also attended that boat party with Elton and JMG

R292, Who is the blond at far left? Is he Trevor Donovan?

One should remember that Colton Haynes [when he was in the closet] also attended that boat party with Elton and JMG

Jan-Michael & Malek

R300 Wow.

Nothing gets this board going like shirtless JMG photos. LOL

Colto

Who is paying cameo role of JMG in Elton John's biopic movie Rocketman?

Richard Madden?

Yeah they're pretty much out

Dubai

wow Monfils bageled Cilic in the third set. Was Cilic injured, playing like shit or Monfils is continuing his GOAT form? Hopefully he won't injure himself again. Monfils playing well will give anyone a tough time

Medvedev upset in straights by former hyped player turned journeyman Berankis

Cilic is getting over a knee injury but Monfils completely outplayed him.

Well, Berankis was more a junior number 1 than a proper hyped player. He had a stellar junior career, but he is a small guy (1'75) so it was bound to have some trouble as pro

I read somewhere recently that Nadal wasn't even in the top 100 in juniors yet beat a top 10 player when he was 16. I should perhaps factcheck this.

Nadal didn't play juniors back in the day. He was a top U14 and U16 player but he only played Wimbledon as junior and he reached semifinals. At 15 he started playing itf matches.

That was the main difference between him and Gasquet, both got near top 100 atp really fast, but Nadal built his way through itf matches while Gasquet received a lot of wc because he was a top junior. Too many wc are never a good idea (as Young can say).

When a player gets amazing results too soon can be very dangerous because not all great junior players are ready for the transition to the pro tour, and going too soon can end in frustration and lack of confidence. Not Gasquet's case who defeated top players almost as fast as Rafa, but something failed on the way, maybe too much pressure on a shy personality guy.

Nadal's pressure back in the day was not that much, Spain had recent GS champions unlike France. He was supposed to be a child prodigy but i think he defeated expectations really fast (and his rise to the top could be even faster if he wasn't injured several times in the years before his first Roland Garros)

Coric survives a third set tiebreak against Vesely

We need more pics of Borna naked.

Update on the Gimelstob situation

Azarenka defeated Collis very easily

Itd be great to see Azarenka go deep in a tournament again. It's been awhile hasnt it?

Coric wins third set tiebreaker over Berdych in Dubai

Nishikori upset by Hurkacz

Federer is having way more trouble than usual to win

Berdych the loser.I am excited about him

Collins game was as bad as her attitude, even Zverev looks well behaved in comparision.

Azarenka was clearly superior but she failed several easy balls that could cost her a lot against a better player

This is having a waist after having a child. Which other tennis wives and girlfriends have post-partum waists? Not many I imagine! Tehe.

This is having a waist after having a child. Which other tennis wives and girlfriends have post-partum waists? Not many I imagine! Tehe.

What's going on in Acapulco? Lots of diarrhea and stomach problems apparently. There have been three quick retirements on the women's side (Puig, Anisimova and another one).

Montezuma’s revenge! Like duh!

"spicy Mexican diarrhea"

Puig!

Defending champion Del Potro has withdrawn from Indian Wells due to continued knee rehab

I hope his knees aren’t knobbly like Misery’s.

kYrgios playing like he's got diarrhea.

Cameron is set and a break up against little Diego. Will he finish the job or will he proved to be another pussy of ATP who chokes against determined retrievers [Diego, Kei, Nadal etc

And he got broken when he was on the verge of victory !!!!

LOL almost same script every time

And her got broken again in his very next service game to lose the set .

Typical ATP

welcome to atP[association of tennis Pussies]

don't worry Norrie . You have lot of company there [dozens and dozens of players]

[quote] welcome to atP[association of tennis Pussies]

WTA - they all love pussy! All of them!

Ohhh Gosh . Cameroon is 5/3 up again in the third set.

At least do this time Norrie. Learn something from your idol,Misery

Norrie did it!. Thank God .

F. Lopez also could not play today too. And Kyrgios has stomach problems.

Diego also injured.

Katie Boulter retires because of stomach illness or something.

Lopez has a gastro problem due to drinking water. same with many WTA players. What is going on in Acapulco?

This Nadal-Kyrgios match is quite bizarre lol

Nadal looks like he wants to kill Kyrgios.

lmao back to back netcords. 1 stays in saving Kyrgios the other falls out also saving Kyrgios now 6-6 in the tiebreak

omg Nadal double faults to go down match point after being up 6-3

Boos! lol

wow Kyrgios wins 8-6 after being down 3-6

Nadal gave 1 of the fastest handshakes I've seen him give. Half the crowd is booing Kyrgios. This is crazy

and next Kyrgios will take on Wawrinka lmfao that should be fun too. Stan will obviously never forget the comments about Kokkinakis banging Vekic

Exciting match. Rarely is the winner of a match booed.

Rafa clearly thinks Nick is trailer trash. That was as cold of a handshake as he'll ever give.

I think Nadal didn't like how it seemed like earlier in the match, Kyrgios wouldn't be able to finish

Intersting Donna is also playing mexico. She will play her quaterfinal match tommorw

A. Zverev is one weird-looking guy. He knows how to handle a mascot kid deftly though.

Despite her history with Nick, I am sure Dona will be graceful from players box unlike Mirka who was whisling at Nick Krygois during federer /Nick match in Miami two years ago

Thansi KokK just tweeted this

Wawrinka team

Stan team

[quote] Mirka who was whisling at Nick Krygois during federer /Nick match in Miami two years ago

She may have mistaken him for a waiter during one of her frequent "sugar highs".

The Aussies are the mean girls of the ATP, so catty and always thirsting for drama.

ESL in da house!

Rafa on Kyrgios: "He could win slams and be number one. But he lacks respect for the public, his opponent, and himself."

Wow. Has Rafa ever criticized another player like that before? What does our poster from Spain say?

The true color of big 4 really gets out whenever they lose an important or tight match to the peasants.

Nick is 8-7 vs current Top 3 ranked players

[quote] The true color of big 4

While your use of the phrase and sentiment behind it are appreciated, even I have come to accept that as of January the big four are no more.

I do love that Kyrgios told the crowd to "shut the fuck up".

That was a backhanded compliment from Rafa. He was saying that Kyrgios has all the talent in the world, but he lacks the heart/will and disrespects the game. Rafa is right.

It's pure arrogance and entitlement from Nadal. He's sore he lost so has to slag his opponent off. He thinks he shouldn't be losing to people like Kyrgios, but he has and can't cope with it.

because telling the crowd to "shut the fuck up" is how you promote the game

What? I went to bed early. Kyrgios defeated Nadal after all of his moaning and gimping around? He looked awful when I checked out early in the second set, what happened?

R363 It's been suggested his calling for the trainer in the first set was down to this stomach bug that seems to be going around all the players in Acapulco. Both players played well and it was very close. Kyrgios was just being Kyrgios though I do have to respect him for coming through against such a hostile crowd. They were awful.

Nick Krygois may be a giant asshole but he has a heart of a lion and unfortunately at this point, we need more players like him. On ATP we have too many graceful losers who pay too much respect to the game[read big 3/4].

I dislike Nick Krgois's antics as much as any DLer does however at this point I will take him over people like Cilic, Berdych, Domi[not his ass], Milos, Richard, Grigor, and so many others

Does anyone have a video of Nick's underhand serve? Saw one on reddit but it was unavailable.

R366 Too much is being made of the underhand serve. It was out.

It's true that the big 3 really show their ass when they are losing against someone they don't respect. Djokovic literally exploded against Chung at the AO last year and Cecchinato in RG. Even Federer will give a frosty handshake and leave the court in a huff. But that may be the worst handshake i've seen from Nadal since his little spat with Berdych a decade + ago.

In Dubai, Monfils is first through to another SF (although he should have done it in 2 against Berankis). Svitolina is there cheering him on. Tsitsipas is currently a set and a break up against Hurkacz, it's a great match from both. Up next is Federer, and then Handsome Battle between Coric and Basilashvili which I will be watching just for the eye candy.

In Mexico Sloane Stephens throws in one of her classic tanks and loses in straights to someone barely in the top 200 at the moment, Beatriz Haddad Maia. At what point do the ITF/WTA fine her for not giving full effort? I hope she gets drubbed during her Miami title defence in an early round. Maybe unseeded Venus can get her in the first round. Speaking of Venus, Osaka has hired the hitting partner (Jermaine) she just dumped. She really does wanna be a Williams lol.

R345: Zverev was booed last year after defeating Federer and he didn't do anything wrong unlike Kyrgios.

Kyrgios reaching his full potential could be amazing for atp, a bad boy will bring a lot of interest to the game because Kyrgios couldn't care less about what people think of him and he has a lot of talent, but unfortunately i think that talent will be wasted.

Nice match from Felix against Cuevas, in the first set Cuevas was clearly superior but Felix was able to hold his serve till the last one, but he recovered really well in the other two sets where he was the dominant player

Berankis hits a winner to go 30/0 up on Monfils' serve. Monfils yells 'ALLEZ' pretty much straight in his face. Berankis, shocked, makes 4 errors to lose the game. Monflls keeps Allez'ing, looking straight at Berankis

Just imagine if Daniellie Collins had done the same thing?

R369 What did Kyrgios do wrong apart from not be called Nadal?

He got a code violation for telling the crowd to shut up, admittedly, but apart from that he did nothing wrong. Bear in mind he said this while the noisy crowd were interrupting Nadal's serve, not his.

I think it would be great for the tour to have a villain, and Kyrgios fits the bill perfectly. His style of play is so flamboyant, cheeky and (when on) powerful that it would suit that role as well. But I don't think he's willing to put in the effort. It will be up to all of them to step up when the big 3 retire. That's 4 slams up for grabs, who wants them?

In Dubai, Tsitsipas plays a godawful 2nd set tiebreak (Hurkacz admittedly raised his level back up) and we now go to a 3rd set.

Re: Acapulco WTA, there's no reason Vika can't take the title. The draw is filled with nothing but scrubs now, the only real challenge is Donna Vekic who she might face in the final (and Donna has already slightly over-scheduled this year).

R372: And he was a break up. Tsitsipas needs to start to end his matches faster if he wants to play every week

R371: Kyrgios has a reputation and frankly he seems to pretend to have way more health problems that he really had, but as i say he has a reputation and he doesn't need to do too much to put the crowd against him (and in Acapulco Nadal is a fan favourite)

Tsitsipas won the third set 6 1

He could be top 10 by the end of the tournament

Hurkacz played a great match. Def one to watch. Interesting that his game is modelled on Andy Murray's.

[quote] I do have to respect him for coming through against such a hostile crowd. They were awful.

[quote] he doesn't need to do too much to put the crowd against him (and in Acapulco Nadal is a fan favourite)

One would think with Spain’s colonial history with Mexico they wouldn’t be such fervent supporters of Nadal.

Nadal is very popular in Latin America. He just opened up an academy in Mexico (Boca Raton, FL earlier said no).

R376: Spain has very good relationships with all former colonies. It's very common spanish artist work in spanish talking countries and the same for artist of those countries in Spain. Coproductions on films are common too.

And Nadal is probably the second most loved player on tour, he has fans everywhere (probably with the exceptions of the crowds of the french open, but most french find very annoying spanish success in their GS, so there's really nothing new)

Gimelstob sweating bullets.

Mexico doesn't have any good players so the fans cheer on any other players from Spanish speaking countries.

Gambill is doing a good job. I hope they keep them and end up firing Gimelstob

Love that tweet, R379. Thanks for posting.

So Naomi Osaka has officially hired Jermaine Jenkins as her 'head coach', according to WTA website and his twitter (as well as her instagram).

She has now gone from being coached by Serena's hitting partner, to being coached by Venus'.

Did Oracene turn down the gig?

And it seems Casper Ruud will break into top 100 next week

[quote] And it seems Casper Ruud will break into top 100 next week

Loved him in Ant Man.

Naomi's family is cheap.

R382 Oracene wanted too much money apparently. And she requested to be referred to as "coach" not "hitting partner."

I wonder where the "Jan-Michael Gambill is STRAIGHT" troll from years back is?

I'm not sure anyone with eyes or a head could say JMG is straight.

Hottie Djere won again

Coric has now won 3 consecutive 3rd set tiebreak matches this week (Vesely, Berdych and Basilashvili). Next he gets Federer

Kyrgios is a fucking twat, and Rafa is right. However, It's been a long time since Tennis has had a true villian. It could be good for the game, ratings, participation.

I'm reading a John Waters book right now, and he said something that's applies to this:

"Being a true rebel is pissing off your peers, not your parents."

I'd enjoy it if Kyrgios never won another match. Talk about deserving to die in a grease fire.

r273. So dashing. I mean delici... Rather, I mean nice. Just nice.

[quote] Cames Spencer Jourier

“Cames” instead of James? Freudian slip?

Crowd booing Kyrgios before the match and during his MTO.

Tsitsipas scaring ballgirls like his first name is Novak.

FAA meets Djere again. Sigh. Good match from Felix with two tie breaks over Ramos-Vinolas.

Eesh, never seen Tsitsipas in full flounce mode before.

[quote] So we all noticed Stef angrily snatching his towel from the ball girl earlier, right?

Stef? Not MY Stef!

Why does Stan let his shirts cover his ass? He should show it off every xlcgabce he can.

Are you on Stan team or Nick team?

C. Neither

A. Neither

Wawrinka team!

I just find Kyrgios compelling to watch. The natural talent, variety of shot, improv skills, mood swings...I love watching him. Sometimes he's an asshole and other times he seems very nice but I always want to watch

[quote} Fuck you, man! - Nick Kyrgios

[quote] Fuck you, man! - Nick Kyrgios

the fans in Acapulco are so rowdy

omg more drama in tonight's match lmao

Wawrinka is also pissed but he gave a better handshake than Nadal

fans booing again

This time Kyrgios looked to be cramping in his leg and had a few rubdowns in the third set

The crowd really hates Kyrgios. He might play Isner next? Who are they going to root for in that match of doom.

R409, I predict a lot of lumbering.

I root for Tin Man and Scarecrow to be voted off the Island.

....

I hope it’s Coric - Tsitsipas final in Dubai. Zverev seems to be in decent shape after injury - he is also in doubles semi final.

Coric team or Titsy team?

coric team.

Tisy has become a cunt recently

1:37 AM in Acapulco and Isner-Millman just starting their third set after the first 2 went to a tiebreak. Millman had 5-2 in the first but choked and Isner won it. Then Isner should have won the second set but Millman was able to sneak away with it.

Millman is a sexy, sexy cunt (and knows all the words to “Another One Bites the Dust” and “Born in the USA”), so there’s no way I’m not rooting for him against the ‘Tardy turd Isner.

Ya want a villain? How about ME?

Five youngest active players to have reached Top 10.

Jack Sock (1992)

Dominic Thiem (1993)

Lucas Pouille (1994)

Alexander Zverev (1997)

Stefanos Tsitsipas (1998)

Millman has the best posture and strut in tennis. Kyrgios, Kokk and de Minaur all have hunchbacks by contrast.

Wow Federer crushed Coric. Coric had been struggling to win matches all week though.

Tsitsipas barely edged past Monfils

R421 MOnfils is playing really well lately, in fact he defeated Tsitsipas the last time they played

R419: At first i thought you were talking about the active players who reach the top 10 at a youngest age.

There are more and more late bloomers lately. There are only 9 under 20 players in the top 250 (De Miñaur is 20 now) and only 3 under 19 (well Kuhn is under 250 this week but he'll be 248 next week)

R418: Tomic is more a douchebag than a villain. Kyrgios can be annoying and his behaviour sucks, but he is very talented and unlike Tomic i think it's not too late for him

Porna barely had an off season (due to Davis Cup), and he was sick throughout most of his prep. This was only his 3rd tournament of the year and was barely edging out wins 7-6 in the third (three in a row I think with that scoreline).

Olderer was basically feasting on scraps but you know it has to feel good after getting embarrassed by him last year, especially in Halle going for title #10.

I hope Tsitsipas has enough left in the tank to play at a high level. The match with Monfils tonight was pretty breathtaking at times.

So... this is the first time I’ve heard about it.

Jack Sock seems completely besotted by his new girlfriend. He’s posting a lot of Instagram stories about her.

Maybe besotted, maybe showing off...

[quote] Maybe besotted, maybe showing off...

Well she is much better looking than he is.

Is he not seeing that British player?

B. Neither

Who has the better ass - Jack Sock or his girlfriend?

[quote] Every day is victory lane with you.

Sock and NASCAR would have been a much better fit clearly.

She'll last about 5 months like all the rest of them.

On to the next Barbie Bumbanger!

Kenin is the new Wozniacki complete with a very involved coach-dad.

Kenin has an old-school crazy immigrant tennis dad (a la Sharapova, Capriati, Pierce, Agassi, Dokic).

Is Kenin related to Lenin?

omg Kyrgios is now doing this thing the whole tournament since he initially got booed...he's now courting boos with thumbs down signs to the crowd and all that. He said the other night he does better when the crowd is against him

but that's not entirely true. In Miami when he choked match point against Federer, it was the crowd turning on him that got to him. Maybe he's stronger now though

#obsessed

Maybe Rafa was right.

Titsy = the new "Nole"

Sasha Zverev is in both singles and doubles final

S. Zverev

Mexicans rooting for Isner more than New Yorkers do.

Why would Mexicans root for Isner?

100% about who he's playing.

Kyrgios looks more Mexican or Spanish (like Nadal) than Isner. Why would they support Isner, a Trump/wall supporter?

omfg Kyrgios is becoming a legend lmao

3 bizarre very long 3 set matches in a row

7-5 5-7 7-6(8) over Isner

Zverev will likely kill him. Kyrgios has expended so much energy

correction 7-5 5-7 -6(7)

[quote] Fuck you, man! - Nick Kyrgios

R444 Cause they don't watch CNN/MSNBC

for fucks' sake lol. 7-5 5-7 7-6(7)

R446 have you been paying attention at all this week???

sexxxy hug at the net 😊

[quote] have you been paying attention at all this week???

Explain please.

Nice hug between wall supporting, Trump loving Isner and mexican looking Nick Krygois

it's weird. Isner is 1 of those "nice" repubs. I've heard numerous players say Isner is a very nice guy...but then you see he's a super supporter of Trump. So Isner is nice in a shallow way I suppose but turns around and votes for politicians who enact backwards, ignorant and harmful policies. I don't care how nice he seems, any Trump supporter is an asshole

menstennisforums has been going wild all week long with the Kyrgios matches vs. Nadal, Wawrinka and now Isner

R457 imagine if Kyrgios was Canadian. A dozen posters jizz their jeanshorts in unison every time a Canadian wins an ITF match over there.

Anyway great match. Each player had a 50 winner, 22/24 unforced error ratio. Isner is just too slow and struggles to keep a rally going. Wonderful to see Nick playing so well.

Who will out cunt his oppnenet in tommrow;s final?It is shame that Nick and Sasha are good freinds [atleast they were in oast ]Otherwise it would have been an interesting cuntfest

r447, Sasha had just finished his doubles semifinal an hour ago. He has more court time than Nick this week. So I don't think he would be that fresh after all

Are you all ready to celebrate with me Roger's 100th title? It'll happen in less than 12 hours!

Middle Eastern cuisine will be served in the dinner? Right, Mirka?

R461: He'll need to play way better than he did this week to win against Tsitsipas.

I like that Nick couldn't care less about what Nadal said. Everybody praise Nadal and Roger for their sportmanship but the truth is when they lose against a player they consider way below them they always make dismissive comments.

Shascha is playing very well and he should win, if there's controversy over the match this will reach new levels of bitchiness on the atp

Nick is talented trash with an attitude problem. He can go on hot streaks and beat anyone, or obviously tank matches like he doesn't give a shit. He's been around since 2013 and has only 4 titles, which is ridiculous given his talent level.

Congrats to Federer on 100 titles. Pretty amazing.

[quote]Congrats to Federer on 100 titles. Pretty amazing

We'll get another first time finalist in Sao Paulo tomorrow. Garin and Pella won their SF matches today

I think Djere was tired, but he had a nice two weeks run and his ranking went high. I really like his game and i think he has potential to be a top player.

Ruud is going to break into top 100. Anyway, i don't think he has the potential of other young players (of course i would say the same about Alex de Miñaur last year and he is doing pretty well)

Guido Pella is a nice...

Congrats, Gramps!

Acapluco: Yafan Wang def. Kenin 2-6 6-3 7-5 for her 1st title. Kenin is a poor loser. She just gave a quick handshake, no congratulations or anything

Kenin looks like a spoiled brat. So glad she lost. That was barely a handshake.

correction: Kenin just said "good match" and that's it. Very self-absorbed but she's young and her dad seems crazy. Hopefully she'll have a more sporting attitude as she gets older

Azarenka and Saisai Zheng won the doubles title easily

hahaha and Zverev is the first to break his racquet after going down 1-4 and receives the first boos of the night!

surely Kyrgios won't want him to hog all the negative attention though so stay tuned

Yeah, Nick really needs to step up!

Is Sasha gay? He clearly showing all the signs today

I think it would be good for tennis if there was a Connors/McEnroe type rivalry between Sasha and Nick. Villian hot head against arrogant entitlement.

wow Kyrgios was under control tonight. He did yell at his box a few times but didn't go crazy after letting go of an early break lead in the second. He regrouped and still won 6-3 6-4

what a tough draw just to win Acapulco!!!

Seppi, Nadal, Wawrinka, Isner and A. Zverev

Sasha Zverev collapse is complete

S. Zverev

What a great week for Kyrgios. Rumour has it he and Ajla Tomljanovic broke up or at least had a fight (something something unfollowing each other on social media) so maybe he just poured everything into his tennis and zoned in. He really can beat anyone when he plays well.

I'm glad that tennis robot Kenin lost. She tried to pull a fake MTO as well to distract Wang's rhythm, and her attitude on-court is dreadful (as well as some pretty ugly groundstroke swings). Recently there were all these photos of her as a kid with tennis greats (Clijsters, Sampras, Li Na, Williams sisters, Agassi, etc.). I know tennis parents are common and you have to get them into the sport young, but it's like a fake person. Pre-programmed. Her father literally only had her for the purpose of making tennis money off of her. Uncomfortable to watch.

I think Kenin is just really awkward rather than cunty. I bet home schooled too.

R465, True tennis fans understand the historical significance of Roger winning 100 titles, but you would never know that on this site. Too many haters and not enough sports fans who appreciate records being broken...even when it’s not their favorite player breaking records. Congratulations Roger!

A nice message from Jimmy Connors...

And I realize Jimmy’s records still stands at 109, but only 2 men have won 100 titles in the open era...it should be discussed and appreciated.

R474: I was thinking the same. Come on, he was in the middle of the first set (and he was only a break down), it's simply to soon to show that frustration. He needs to look for help because he clearly need it.

And Sascha is the kind of player who will benefit of being a fan favourite, but as Federer said to him the only think he gets when he behaves that way is an hostile crowd.

It would be really great for the atp is Kyrgios was able to keep this level, unfortunately i think it won't happen

Federer's career numbers are simply amazing and he had to compete against two beasts. I'm a little tired of the big three winning all GS but i'm sure i'll miss the quality of their matches. It would be great if we have the equivalent to wta at the end of the 90's with the new players rising their level to compete, but i doubt any of the new generation get remotely close to what these three legends achieved.

And that was a really nice message from Connors. 100 titles is an incredible feat, not even on the wta there are so many players with that number of titles and of course you need to be great for years and years to get into those numbers

R481: Kenin was promoted as a child prodigy since very young, but her junior career was simply good and nothing special. I remember her losing against spanish Julia Payola (who has no ranking right now) on a Orange bowl U12 in the first round (Payola was a good player, probably a top 10 european U12 back then, but when you are hyped as the next best thing it doesn't look good to lose against someone your age in the first round in two easy sets)

I also thought it was weird that during the OCC, Kenin's dad started rubbing her breasts with the towel. I guess it was for sweat(?), but... at her age she can probably reach those herself? He was there for like 15 seconds..

Reminds me of Camila Giorgi's gross father rubbing her knees and going all the way up her thigh.

All these girls need to fly the nest.

Why doesn’t Connors make many pupblic appearances. Many of his generation are commentators and present trophies, among other things.

Pupblic = public

[quote] All these girls need to fly the nest.

Why? So they can become lesbians? Better the caressing, healing hand of a loving father than that of a lecherous lesbian.

Connors is best locked away in Santa Barbara. The last time he made news it was for claiming that Chris Evert aborted their love child.

lol ... He lasted not even a day coaching Sharapova

Maria fired him in a Wendy's parking lot in Cincy after ordering half the menu, according to her autobiography.

[quote] after ordering half the menu

That must've lead to her heart condition.

[quote]after ordering half the menu

amateur

Favorite time of the year.

and don't forget Connors failed at coaching Roddick too

and don't forget Connors failed at coaching Roddick too

Pella def. Garin in Sao Paulo for his first title

Yay Guido!

Pella is a hot daddy

Rublev will be back in the top 100 if he wins the final

Danielo Evans backhand is incredibly old fashioned

Sascha isn't much of a fighter; he was very passive at the beginning of the second set. His attitude didn't help either; they were only twenty minutes into the first set when he had the tantrum with his racquet. I counted 6 drop shots from Nick, yet Sascha didn't adjust his game. When Sascha gets off to a quick start in a best of 3 match he's almost unstoppable; but when he falls behind to a quality opponent this passivity creeps in . Anyway, it was heartening to see NIck playing such passionate tennis.

The Zverev brothers did win the doubles title in Acapulco

A. and M.

M Zverev is so much better looking than A.

How do they compare to N. Zvereva?

R505: He is the kind of player who is a hitting machine when all works in his favour but underperform when not. And that's a big big problem on GS because there's no way everything works in your favour playing at 5 sets during two weeks.

I think he knows he is very good (his rise was very fast and he had no trouble to stay at the top 10 and winning big titles) but his reaction after losing (and what a lose) on Australia was not good at all. Smashing raquets doesn't show determination, only shows frustration. And i don't think he should be crying at the crossroads or whipping himself for losing, but he shows himself being satisfied and thinking he'll win a GS soon (and of course making that cheesy video with his girlfriend).

That was a contrast with Tsiitsipas reaction. He went frustrated after getting his ass kicked, he showed he was dissapointed but he praised Nadal's game and told he learn a lesson. That's a way to improve

R510 Australia was the worst loss of Sascha's career, IMO. He basically didn't compete against Raonic for the first two sets. I like Sascha, so I've always had compassion for his GS losses. I always felt he went on court with the best of intentions, with his nerves ultimately getting in the way; but the loss against Raonic felt different. I didn't sense he was trying ( not in those first two sets, anyway). He needs to be more independent during his matches; stop looking to his box and Papa Zverev after each point.

I think Tsitsipas is a great competitor. I like how he fires himself up when he's down in a match. He's got a temper, but usually he knows how to contain it. He's also a smart player; and as you said,eager to learn.

Edmund vultures a challenger title in the lead up to Indian Wells and all the UK journalists orgasmed in unison.

Djere is up to No. 33 in the rankings, and since Del Potro and Gasquet will not be playing Indian Wells (last I heard), he's ranked high enough to be seeded...but, he wasn't ranked high enough to get direct entry into the Indian Wells draw. So he would have to qualify for the main draw (same at Miami). How does that work? Usually they complete the bracket for the main draw with open spots for qualifiers. But if they do that, the seeds would be announced in advance. So does he get screwed out of a seeding, despite his ranking?

Does anyone know?

Djere hadn't even enter the tournament because his ranking was so low, even qualifying. Winning Rio his ranking skyrocketed and he gave that wonderful speech. Luckily, Tommy Haas gave him a Wild Card and wikipedia says he's seeded 31.

He'd have a similar seeding at Miami (if he's even in the entry list; if he's not he'd need another wild card). Playerss are seeded right before the qualifying starts with the latest rankings.

He's in the qualifying entry list for Miami (which is why I assumed the same for Indian Wells). So if he doesn't receive a main draw wildcard, he could enter the main draw unseeded, despite being ranked higher than most of the players in the main draw.

Strange.

On the ATP/WTA, entry lists come out more than a month before the tournament starts. This has always been the case.

The same goes for Radu Albot, winner in Delray Beach, who has to go through qualifying in Indian Wells despite having a current ranking to be well within the tournament.

Indian Wells update:

OUT: Chung

IN: Ivashka

Next: Gulbis

[quote]On the ATP/WTA, entry lists come out more than a month before the tournament starts. This has always been the case.

[quote]The same goes for Radu Albot, winner in Delray Beach, who has to go through qualifying in Indian Wells despite having a current ranking to be well within the tournament.

Yes, the scenario you mention is not unusual at all. What's unusual is that Djere isn't just ranked highly enough to be in the tournament, he's ranked highly enough to be *seeded* in the tournament.

In other words, if he gets a wildcard to Miami, he'll be seeded in the main draw. If he doesn't get a wildcard, he can play and win in qualifying, and enter the main draw but he will be unseeded.

Chung really has bad luck with injuries after his big win against Zverev in Australia last year.

Edmund showed all what's wrong with Rublev's game. He has an amazing forehand but you can't hit a winner at every moment, his game lacks depth and variety, and of course his backhand and specially his serve are very far from the quality of his forehand. But at least he is near top 100 again, but like Shapovalov he really needs an overall improvement to reach his full potential, sometimes having a big weapon hides the flaws on the game of a player

Dafuq?

Those Aussie Mean Girls will crucify Titsy for this!

Oh Boy.

R520: Dafuq really summarize my feeling about that video (but i can't stop laughing)

R522 I thought that was Kvitova for a minute

I thought Lendl would have whipped Sascha into shape by now.

Tsitsipas looks a bit frightening in that.

Women's draw out

Osaka could open against Mladenovic if Kiki gets by Zheng in the first round. In the same section, Collins could open against Bouchard if Genie beats Flipkens

Bencic has a very favorable section especially as the other seed in her section is Wozniacki who seems ready to retire

Venus opens against former top 10er Pektovic with the winner to face Kvitova

Serena and Muguruza head another section. Serena could open against Azarenka if Vika beats a countrywoman in rd1

Yafan Wang and Kenin will face off less than a week after playing each other for the Acapulco title with Svitolina awaiting the winner

[quote]Reminds me of Camila Giorgi's gross father rubbing her knees and going all the way up her thigh.

r489, I would love to see Giorgi get with a coach who could harness her incredible talent.

Giorgi girl.

I'm not that sure about Giorgi's talent, in my opinion she is just another brainless ballbasher. She is absolutely impressive when she is on but that kind of player is only on fire from time to time. Anyway she'll improve for sure if she gets a real coach.

Djere got into IW main draw. I'm curious about what he is able to do on hard courts and against top players

I think the sky's the ceiling with Giorgi if she had a good coach. Maybe that's a bit over the top, but when she's on she's basically unplayable. And even then, at her peak form, she's leaking baseball-type errors and hitting a million double faults. It's not like the holes in her game are that hard to fix (hit with more margin/topspin, take a little pace off the second serve, don't be afraid to extend the rallies and wait for the opportunity to unleash).

I honestly don't even think she's playing at 60% of her full potential/capacity. Yet her movement (she was a gymnast as a child) and courtspeed are insane, she already has those aggressive instincts that are so hard to teach, brilliant serve and netplay especially for a short girl (she won more points at the net in Wimbledon 2018 than any other female player), and of course massive groundstrokes without even needing any time to wind up - again, remarkable for such a petite girl. She's even good on multiple surfaces. Imagine how good she would be if someone was able to just reign her in and make her even *slightly* more consistent?

Having said that the problems with her family run deep. They're still too closed off from outside influences (in a bad way). Mother sewing her outfits, father feeling her up and running her tennis into the ground, and her brother who just looks completely miserable courtside. They lost another sibling years ago and are very close-knit, I think there's even more going on than what we see on the surface.

She also posted pictures on her IG sitting on her brother's lap and making kissy faces a la Kiki and Luka Mladenovic. And her handshakes and interviews are the worst, making Ostapenko appear gracious and Osaka eloquent. She's also played like 1 doubles match her entire career suggesting she's on a tight leash and isn't allowed contact with other people.

Sibling love.

[quote]I thought Lendl would have whipped Sascha into shape by now.

It's only been 6 months. Murray had already been to multiple slam finals when he hooked up with Lendl, so Lendl had less work to do to push Murray past the finish line. Zverev needs a lot more work on his physical and mental conditioning.

Jack Sock’s grandmother has died.

Indian Wells draw is out. QF pairings:

Djokovic - Theim Zverev - Anderson (or Tsitsipas) Nishikori - Federer Isner- Nadal

Djokovic probably has the toughest draw in the early going, with Kyrgios a potential 3R opponent, and Monfils a potential 4R opponent. Wawrinka could meet Federer in 3R.

I'm going to be in Indian Wells on Thursday to watch the first round matches. Any other DL'ers going to be there?

Borna

I might go, R537. If I do, I'll be following these first week matches: If he gets past Cameron Norrie in the first round, then FAA meets Tsitsipas in the second. McDonald plays Sousa. Berdych and Feliciano, who last met each in in a first round match back at the 2006 French Open (Berdych won but overall has a 6-8 record against Lopez). Hubert Hurkacz and Donald Young. Ramos-Vinolas and Dzumhur. Struff and Millman.

I'll be there Sunday and Monday. I only buy a grounds pass because I don't need to see the Big 3 or the Williams Sisters. Plus you get to avoid the Fed-freaks (of which IW is the sometimes the lodestone of such people). Such tickets are very reasonably priced too.

R540 Same here. I bought a grounds pass last year, and was more than entertained. It seems like grounds passes are only $30 this year for the opening rounds. If I remember right, it was $50 last year.

omg Isner has another practically walkover early round section

Virginia Slims of Indian Wells

Elf team.

Who is elf?

Elf has to be either Elena Vesnina or Diego Schwartzman lol.

I thought it was David Goffin?

yeah it's "Lil Diego"

Cutie Diego always poses shirtless on IG stories.

Raonic not working anymore with Ivanisevic. The Canadian is in Indian Wells working with Fabrice Santoro ! Saw Fabrice who confirmed it. He’s very excited by the challenge, and also still working with Herbert.

Cannot wait to see Raonic play like a magician!

Martina finally apologized for her transphobic comments

R552 She apologised for using the word 'cheat'. That was all she apologised for.

Konta and Parmentier playing to a completely empty stadium in Indian Wells. I thought this was supposed to be the Fifth Slam?

But that's the problem wta has now, there's no real stars among the top players (with the exception of Serena). They are unable to gain new fans because they are unable to play well more than two weeks on a row. And well, most of them are not exactly charismatic.

I started to watch tennis with ASV win on Roland Garros, i was always more interested in women's tennis and all their drama than men's tennis, but lately i realize that i pay way more attention to men. Maybe it's because men's tennis seems on a verge of change, with three active legends of the sport and a good bunch of interesting new players.

Wta is simply not interesting right now

Is this where we talk about Evert Cup?

I suppose we'll get an IW thread soon

R557 the Sunshine Double refers to the IW and Miami swing so this is the thread

R554 that's called taste. Nobody wants to watch Konta.

I'm actually interested in the rematch between Yafan Wang and Kenin as they just played on Saturday for the Acapulco title

R559 Former World No.4 Konta? What has she done to upset you?

Jack Sock’s new girlfriend seems like a complete airheaded bimbo. He posts often about her on his Instagram stories. She doesn’t seem to have two brain cells to rub together.

If Sock doesn't get back to his 2017 winning ways, his new gf won't stay with him long

He should stick to doubles. Popsicle and him were a good pair. They should’ve stayed together. Delusions of grandeur.

Match isnt over but it looks like Serena will be playing Vika next.

While being a bit baggy Diegos shorts appears to have a lot to show

Only real surprise today was Gavrilova def. Yastremska for her first win of the year.

Kenin got revenge over Yafan Wang in 3 sets

Azarenka, Konta, Andreescu and Anisimova also won

Vika needs to pack on the pounds again if she's ever going to get back to the top ten. She plays Serena on Friday.

R568 = Taylor Townhouse

Kenin and Wang were swapping tactical MTOs (I think I counted about 3). What a disaster.

The womens game used to be more popular because they had real STARS. Players with different game styles, distinctive personalities, and a wide array of looks (which sadly does matter for the WTA). Hingis, Graf, Venus, Seles, Serena, Davenport, Pierce, Kournikova, Capriati, Mauresmo, Henin, Dementieva, Sugiyama, ASV, Clijsters, Martinez.... even the dislikeable ones had star power. And they all battled it out week-in, week-out to show who was dominant. These were *real* rivalries. I think Hingis and Davenport had 16 CONSECUTIVE meetings that were all matches for the trophy, in the final (in the space of about 3 years). In what universe would that happen today?

The worst part is that the WTA has never had so many attractive, marketable women at the top of the game. Muguruza is a tall, gorgeous double grand slam champion who beat both Williamses on the biggest stages. But who wants to tune in to watch her boring grinding game (with a terrible forehand), her sulky diva attitude, and those horror-show OCC sessions with Sumyk?

Sloane Stephens with her perfect smile and confident speaking voice was poised to become a huge all-American star after her US Open and Miami victories and French Open final. But anyone who shows up to support her outside of the 3 tournaments a year she plays well in is going to witness a disgraceful tank and completely lazy tennis since she's just there for the appearance fee.

And then moving the vast majority of the tour to China, in timezones where nobody else will be able to watch, with ZERO local interest, played in those massive empty stadiums.... not a good look.

[quote] The womens game used to be more popular because they had real STARS.

You’re just a Norma Desmond. The personalities and players are much more compelling now.

[quote] Muguruza is a tall, gorgeous double grand slam champion

¿Attractive? Sí. ¿Gorgeous? No.

New thread, new cover boy (Shapo Shopbottom).

[quote]But who wants to tune in to watch [Muguruza’s] boring grinding game (with a terrible forehand), her sulky diva attitude, and those horror-show OCC sessions with Sumyk?

Who *doesn’t*????

R567: That's not a real surprise, Gavrilova is a better tennis player than Yastremska right now. Dayana is simply a brainless ballbasher (one who bash the ball really hard) when she has a good day she is dangerous to anyone but her game lacks of depth

R571: In which universe?

apparently Young Grigor has been forced to withdraw from Indian Wells due to a shoulder injury

I guess that Oscar party did a number on him

I find today a video where tennis players were questioned about their favourite books (it was an old video, 10 years ago or so). Well, a lot of fans of Dan Brown, some negative surprises (Murray don't or at least didn't like to read, the same with Simon but that was not a negative surprise, or a surprise at all), probably the most positive was Ivan Ljubicic.

From the big three Djokovic likes some self help book, Nadal likes Isabel Allende, and well, Federer sure should be better prepared for this kind of question because when you are questioned about your favourite book say that you only read magazines makes you look very very shallow.

It's funny how ask about a favourite book makes so many athletes to have a hard time

R578, please provide a link to that video. I’d love to see it. It should be hilarious.

FAA DESTROYS Norrie and his weird game 6-3 6-2. Looking forward to FAA vs. Tsitsipas on Saturday

i wouldn't call it hilarious (in some cases you can hear the engine of their brains traying to find at least one book to talk about)

R580: It seems Felix only needed a couple of good weeks to show his potential. Anyway, i don't think he is remotely close to compete with Tsitsipas if the greek plays at a good level

lol Klizan really rolled over his ankle but still dismissed M. Zverev in straight sets. He was up 4-3 in the second and won it 6-4

time for Stosur to retire. Getting whipped 2-6 3-6 by Brengle? yikes

Marcos Giron's currently closing out a first-set tie break against Chardy. I'd never seen the game of Giron and his model good looks. This should break him into the top 200 if he takes the second.

FAA and Tsitsipas have never met before. Hard to believe considering their birth dates are almost exactly only two years apart.

Dzumhur is on a real downward spiral this year after having the best seasons of his career in 2017 and 2018. Getting just 3 games off of Ramos-Vinolas on a hardcourt is not a good sign

Injured Klizan still straight setted M. Zverev, preventing an all-Zverev meeting in the next round

Mladenovic back in form with a comfortable win over Zhang. Just 2 double faults!

Venus was very low energy today and swallowed a second set bagel but was able to grind out a win over Petkovic...next round she meets Kvitova

By far, Paire has the worst forehand in the top 300 of the ATP. It's as bad as the Dementieva second serve was.

Paire is so hot but so bad at tennis right now. He got booed by a home crowd in Marseilles two weeks ago for a lack of effort and withdrew earlier that month from a challenger event in France because he just didn't feel like playing. And tonight he loses to someone who'd won one match on tour before.

Jordan Thompson has a great style of play ... for the WTA. He's a very accurate pusher and with it being windy and this being a slow court that style worked very well.

I want popsicle.

So do I, R588. What do you want him for? Carnal pleasures?

Someone made a great comment about the WTA having a bunch of marketable players but the efforts to turn them into big stars was sabotaged by the players consistently flopping (Muguruza and Stephens) and being sulky. Bouchard of course is another one and the desperation to turn her into a superstar was palpable. Remember WTA prez Stacey sending a plane load of Genie fans to Singapore? The other one is Monica Puig. Her victory in Rio was stunning and she's the only relevant Latin American on tour but she's done exactly nothing since then.

Popsicle is injured but in Indian Wells hanging with his BFF Christian Harrison.

[quote] The other one is Monica Puig. Her victory in Rio was stunning and she's the only relevant Latin American on tour but she's done exactly nothing since then.

Puig!

Is Bouchard okay? She looked awful during that medical time out.

Are you on Flipkens team or Bouchard team?

Great shotmaking from both (esp Flipkens). Too bad about the wind and Genie being sick, as the match has been entertaining.

R584: I suppose Giron is one of those college late bloomers tennis players, because he will be 26 this year and i've never heard his name before. He defeated Kecmanovic on the qualifying, the serbian is one of the bunch of promising young players (he is suffering a Casper Ruud experience, very close to the top 100 for a while but having problems getting there)

Nole

Titsy

TItsy Nole

Puig!