The Gays and Tennis 35: Heat of Clay Edition

He is Ok, Neither love him or hate him,

I'm pretty sure that's 1980s Martina Navratilova....

really seems like a dope or a sheep dog

I like watching him play. He's flashy.

Fun to watch but what an idiot. Lol I hope he reads about his nickname here, whatever his reaction is. /Canadian

The op pic should always be Nadals ass.

Borna’s ass is nice, too. And Feli’s. And Gael’s.

What do we think of Reilly Opelka?

He’s cartoonish, R8.

There are at least a dozen others to add to that list, R7...

why is this called "heat of clay"? We're not at the clay season yet. This is the Sunshine Double time.

R11, read the opening post. It’s about the Sunshine Double and the start of the clay season in a few weeks. It’s also apparently a play on “feet of clay”.

The way we've been running through these threads, I doubt we'll be at clay by 600.

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

Someone in the last thread 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.

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 today.

Genie needed her blood pressure checked.

Townsend is playing someone with more junk in the trunk than her (Bonaventure).

[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?

Someone go console Chrissie

[quote]Townsend is playing someone with more junk in the trunk than her (Bonaventure).

That explains the tremors in So Cal.

R16 that was me who made that post. I'd forgotten about flying Genie's fans out! What a waste of all that money (which is now desperately being funnelled into China). You're right about Monica Puig, the first huge result for a Latina player since Sabatini and really quite beautiful as well. She actually beat some pretty tough players to win that Olympic gold, I don't even know what the reason for her miserable flopping since then has been (unlike the other marketable beauties she actually does seem to try and NOT tank matches lol).

Flipkens was pretty tremendous today considering the surface and conditions. So many fun rallies from her, she was bullying BouBou.

Also Mladenovic beat Zheng* (SaiSai) not Zhang (Shuai). Which is a much less impressive victory. Osaka will be licking her lips at the revenge match in R2.

Venus looked like she was gonna pass out. I don't remember the last time she called the trainer (and I believe the doctor as well? They actually DID check her blood pressure). Her serve dropped down into the 80s for the rest of the match. It seemed like an illness or Sjogrens more than an injury though so hopefully her health improves and she can give Kvitova a match.

R13, 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)

R8: The problem with Opelka is his game. He is an Isner/Quarry/Roddick type. Big big serve, and very little of the rest

The Bryan brothers' band: Bob, Mike and Pierre-Hugues.

I expected Ugo Humbert to do better but i suppose he is not used to bigger stages yet

[quote] I expected Ugo Humbert to do better but i suppose he is not used to bigger stages yet

Too busy diddling teenage girls.

I don't know anything about his private life so i don't know what you wanted to say. Anyway he is 20 so being with teenage girls won't be such big deal

I suppose R29 is joking about Ugo's last name, not referring to his private life (I hope?)

R31, correct.

God, i feel stupid now (and i even read Lolita)

Humbert wore black knee length socks in his match with Marterer. Looked like a nod to Nabokov...

I like his game.

Kasatkina collapse is almost complete. On the other hand Caroline seems ready to give a fight (not sure it'll be enough) and Garbiñe seems to be in positive mode

I'm quite interested in the Munar/Popyrin match, both are young, they know each other for sure (Popyrin used to play in Spain when he was young) and their games couldn't be more different

[quote]Sorry, can't find any pics to illustrate..

Here's a gif:

That's a change, in Marseille he wore white short socks

Does he wear short shorts?

Fognini and Djokoic playing doubles together? That's way too much ego for just one half of the court...

Djokovic*

Bye bye, Berdy...

Am I the only one who thinks FAA is adorable? Much more so than Tsitsipas, who's already becoming a prima donna.

He is adorable, R43.

Nole

Fog

Jeez I didnt watch the match but did Sloane just not give a shit again?

Cicak in the chair for yet ANOTHER Serena match. Tell me that's a coincidence.

I was at Indian Wells yesterday.

Left the Sam Querry match at Stadium 1 early in the 1st set, and walked out to see both Roger Federer/Gael Monfils on a practice court 2, and Dominic Theim/Kei Nishikori on Practice Court 1. Both courts are open to public viewing. It's really cool to watch them practice, and have fun. They smiled, interacted with the crowd, chatted up their neighboring courts.

Domi-cakes does have the most perfect ass in person. Although, he shaves his legs and I think it's not as sexy.

Here are the matches I watched: Herbert v Kohlschreiber. I watched Herbert last year play Giles Simon. Didn't want to miss him this year. I totally have a crush on him.

Querrey v. Berrettini Berrettini is fucking sexy in person. Beautiful legs. Querrey was shitting the bed early in the set, so I decided to leave. Walked out to see Roger and Dominic practicing on neighboring courts.

I spent the rest of the day camped out at Court 3.

Kudla v. Nishioka. Caught the last set. Kudla was just visibly tired. His wheels just gave out on him.

Paire v. Gunneswaran (Q) Benoit is a lot hotter in person, but also a bit more lanky than I was expecting. The conditions on the court were ROUGH. Super windy, relatively cold, and debris constantly flying on the court. Benoit was really frustrated. I wish I understood french, because he was going on some long monologues inbetween points. Two hours prior to the match, I noticed him on the huge lawn next to the practice courts kicking around a soccer ball, and tossing around a football.

Sturff v. Millman. I saw Struff last year as well, and I just find him so fucking sexy in person. This guy also hits cannon balls. It's just impressive to watch 136mph serves and groundstrokes that are 20mph faster than my fastest serve. Conditions deteriorated on court 3, and Millman was being manhandled by Struff. I decided to leave after the first set for my two hour drive home.

This Vika/Serena match is terrible. If they play like this next round Mugu should destroy either of them.

[quote] Domi-cakes does have the most perfect ass in person.

Please describe it. Could it be referred to as a Sunshine Double?

R46 Sloane actually slammed her racket though didn't break it. For whatever reasons she has a huge mental block against Voegele and it's hard to understand why. Voegele is a very aggressive player who continually goes for her shots but she's not close to being the most powerful player on tour and she's not a good mover. I've seen the last 4 times they played and Sloane just feels uncomfortable playing her. She's now 1-5 against someone who has trouble staying in the top 100. It's bizarre.

R43 I'm a big fan. He's going to be a stud by the time he's 21 if he keeps improving and staying fit. His father is a DILF

R52, his father looks somewhat like Tiafoe.

R50 To paraphrase a quote from the SNL sketch "The Ladies Man"

It looks like somebody stole 2 fine hams and shoved them down the back of his shorts.

What has DL fave and worldwide tennis sweetheart Danielle Collins been up to?

Any updates on young Grigor? I'm just asking for my friend Andre who's his coach? He asked me to check. No really he's very worried about his health. And where his head is. He doesn't want him going to Hollywood parties and getting distracted by a bunch of fake breasts and coligen lips. I mean he a point.

R55 she plays Flipkens tomorrow. Too bad Bouchard didn't win. It would have been fun to watch a Collins-Bouchard handshake

Sloane is so bad right now. Why the hell did she fire Kamau Murray (now coaching Puig)? She's athletic but that's all wasted because she walks to balls.

Courtney and Ben are collectively orgasiming over this Vika-Serena matchup.

Serena and Vika have had some great points tonight. Shame it had to happen in the second round

not any easier for Serena. Next up is Muguruza on Sunday

Very good match between Serena and Vika.

Thank you for the tour, R48. I'm also a fan of Struff and Herbert.

Are you going tomorrow? I'd catch FAA v. Tsitsipas, Monfils v. Mayer, V. Williams v. Kvitova, Osaka v. Mladenovic, Struff v. Berankis, and Ramos-Vinolas v. Cecchinato, Djere v. Andreozzi, and Coric v. Karlovic if I were.

lol Carillo just admitted she just to have a crush on Jarry's grandfather who played back in the day.

Jarry's grandfather Jaime Fillol

Who is that commentator at the Olympics opening ceremony who sounds like my fifth grade gym teacher?

R64, did she say grandfather or grandmother? The latter seems more plausible.

Jarry's grandfather must be super sexy because everyone know's Mary C. is a big Lez!

Osaka's first two matches as Number One will be against DL Fave Kiki.

R63 I usually go just once a year to get my fix. I'd like to go again, but the tickets get increasingly expensive, and don't want to spend the money.

On a side note: I signed up for a gay tennis league here in the LA area. I'm super excited, and kind of nervous.

I enjoyed the Serena / Vika match. I don't actually like either of them (especially as personalities), but the tour sorely needs great champions fighting that hard for every point in marquee matches. It felt like a throwback and aside from a shaky start (and Serena's serve being missing) the level was consistently very high. Williams plays Muguruza next, their first meeting in 6 that isn't in a grand slam.

Sloane is a fraud and needs to be fined for that performance - and many others. The fall has DEFINITELY come for defending finalist Kasatkina (who only won 3 games today against Vondrousova), whereas Ostapenko is turning around her fortunes with a win over Zhang Shuai. Jennifer Brady has now beaten Garcia 3 times this year, but to be fair she's been in a lot better form than her ranking would suggest.

Alex Bolt backs up his few Australian Open wins with a nice victory over Gulbis. He seems a lot less douchey than the other young Aussies... rooting for him to keep improving.

Carillo was married and had two kids back in the day. So it's not completely surprising if she had some attraction to men at one time.

**********

Twitter abuzz with news of ATP Chairman Chris Kermode not being re-appointed to the role after 2019. It's not a complete shock, especially after Pospisil tweeted out his letter a couple of months ago suggesting the lower-ranked players needed a larger share of revenues. But the Brits and some top players not happy to see fellow Brit Kermode shoved out.

Certainly you can say the tour flourished under Kermode, but he did have a huge advantage of ruling during the reign of Federer-Nadal, when the sport has been incredibly popular internationally. But on the down-side, the lower ranked players have clearly not been happy, you continue to have betting houses as tournament sponsors (crazy!), the sport seems to have a match-fixing problem, and the PED issue is always an undercurrent (although most of the tennis media fail to acknowledge it). Plus there's the mess with the Davis Cup vs. Laver Cup vs. ATP Cup. The ATP isn't the utopia that some are suggesting.

Some fear Gimelstob will be angling for the job. That would be the worst of scenarios; he should be out of the governance of the sport. Personally, I'd love to see Anne Worcester in the role (former WTA CEO and tournament director of the old Pilot Pen event), but I suspect the players don't have the balls for that.

[quote]Carillo was married and had two kids back in the day.

And I was married for 22 years with the same man. That doesn't mean I'm a man eater: I'd rather throw my tongue between two nice swollen red beef curtains!

R40: It's beyond me that a journeyman like Fognini can have such big ego. Yes, he is very talented but it's pretty clear by now he is going to waste his talent no matter what

Degenerates!

Just because

So Tiafoe Australian Open was an exception and not the beginning of his rising

Evan's backhand is incredibly old fashioned

Thank you above to the poster who gave us the tour of his day at IW. I was struck by his comments about Struff. I've watched him from time to time and agree with the sexy part, but I watched his match against Millman and his first round doubles match, and he seems, at least for now, to be hitting the ball massively hard and accurately. I hope he achieves a consistently high level of achievement.

Regarding the ATP president, I've read a few articles about it, but mostly glancing, and it's difficult for me to figure out who would be best in charge. I recall Popsicle's letter, and I think it was the recognition that without a supporting cast who are allowed to travel to some of the necessary tournaments, then their game suffers, and its a domino effect. If I'm right about my recollection, then I guess I'd agree with Popsicle. I'm not sure what the motivation would be of Gimelstob and Djokovic.

The motivation of Gimelstob is that he wants the job.

The motivation of Djokovic (I think) is that he seems to want a players union... not all that different from Pospisil, I guess. Not sure if there are other reasons.

With Kasatkina losing her Indian Wells points, there will be no Russian woman ranked in the Top 20 for the first time since 29 March 1998, i.e. since before Kournikova broke into Top 20

Tsitsipas on Stadium 1 while Zverev;s match on parking lot on saturday?

Well, there's still hope for Tsitsipas while some people are lowing their expectations on Zverev.

No, seriously. The reason is obvious Zverev plays against Klizan. It's not exactly an exciting second round match, meanwhile Tsitsipas is playing FAA, it's a battle between two of the players who are supposed to dominate the circuit after the retirement of the big three. Stefanos is having a great year and he is already a top player by his own merits, and FAA is having his break, a month ago he was outside the top 100 but now he is on the verge of breaking the top 50. It's a way more interesting match (in fact it's the most interesting second round match)

Titsy-Faa!

To me Felix has the most ATP charisma since Nadal...

On court or outside the court?, because i agree that Nadal has something in his game that makes him very attractive to a lot of people but outside the court he is not exactly interesting, he is a good guy but he seems to worried to not offend anyone.

Nadal was probably the best 18 yo player of this century, Felix is not there yet, but he is showing a big progression this year (which is interesting because the year didn't start well)

Felix doesn’t have Rafa’s animal sexiness, does he?

Too early to say regarding off court, though he's articulate and humble when interviewed. On court he's got an effortless grace and fluidity that is sexy in its own cerebral waym and the shots are sublime in the video upthread . Nadal's animal sexiness can seem a bit cartoonish in comparison.

I like to watch them play, but the way the announcers keep pimping out Tiafoe and FAA when they are tanking in matches gets tiresome.....

Domi cake

wow FAA is off to a strong start. He's dictating play in the first few games

also if Klizan's ankle is still hurting from his match against M. Zverev, A. Zverev will likely mop the court with him quickly.

Tsitsipas vs. FAA is infinitely more interesting

but lmao I bet A. Zverev is pissed he was thrown on stadium 3, not even stadium 2

Stefanos looks so much better clean shaven

R89: FAA is 18, it's pretty normal he'll be irregular at this stage of his career, Tiafoe is young but he should be doing better.

Tsitsipas has a tendency to lose his serve at the beginning of the matches, generally is not a problem but it was a big problem against Nadal in Australia and against Federer in their final. Letting a more experienced player take advantage at an early stage of the match put extra pressure on him

I'd hardly call this a tank, R89, or anything else from FAA since he went South.

[quote]Fognini and Djokoic playing doubles together? That's way too much ego for just one half of the court...

They were doing the 'boobs out' together

The moment of truth, serving for the first set

wow FAA very nice first set.

And he won the first set without hesitation.

Stefanos better react or all the buzz and hype will go for FAA

FCC!!

Kenin gave a tough fight to Svitolina

The commentators mentioned early on that FAA won all three of the meetings between Tsitsipas and FAA in Juniors.

wow a set and a break!!!!!!!! Can FAA keep it up? Young guns don't want to lose to an even younger gun lol

And once again Stefanos lost his serve early on the set

Carebear is destroying Putintseva.

Yes, he lost his three junior matches against FAA which is a rarity because Tsitsipas was a junior number one and he is two years older. Of course he lost to Shapovalov two times on a row at RG and Wimbledon and he is doing way better than Shapo right now.

And Gasquet defeated Rafa on U14 and itf but was unable to win a match in their pro career.

Anyway, the fact that he is struggling when he was obviously at a way higher level maybe indicates that FAA game is not a good match for Stefanos. He is giving Felix too much advantage, if he feels no pressure he will close the match without a problem

So glad Titsy is losing. His game irritates me to no end.

And Kecmanovic is on the verge to take profit of his LL status and going to third round. Maybe luck was just what he needed to finally crack into the top 100

And after being trashed on the first set Giron is serving to win the second against Alex de Miñaur

Carlo gone! Bageled in the 2nd set too. Ha ha!

Carla is so apathetic most of the time. She has the talent but with her height she needed a strong mentality to take profit of it. Unfortunately she is not strong or even motivated most of the time

And three break points to Felix

And now serving for match.

This is going to be a really bad result for Stefanos. One thing is to lose against a talented player and other very different to lose this way

I'm surprised Tsitsipas isn't getting more free points with his serve.

FAA has been very impressive today. If he keeps playing this way he'll win a title very soon.

and it's over wow

Wow Tsitsipas was really spanked this time. I'm eager to see his reaction.

I hope Felix will be able to carry on and have a nice run at IW

That is what should happen to Titsy's ratty game all the damn time.

Felix!!!!

Give credit where credit is due, R113. FAA kicked ass. This will probably be remembered more as a breakthrough match for Felix than a poor one for Tsitsipas.

And Giron is winning 3 0 in the third set (i think Alex won the first five games in the match).

Djere is serving to win.

FAA won very easily against Norrie, and Norrie was playing well lately, but i didn't expect this kind of result. And as i say, one thing is to win (which in this case it would be awasome no matter what) and other winning against an in form top player this way.

The good thing is that he seems very down to earth because the hype was high and now it's going to be higher. There's only two other players born in 2000 in the top 250, and none is even close to reach top 100. Anyway, Felix was always the first of the class by far

Sabalenka's on-court interview was funny. She basically turned every question into an opportunity to thank the crowd for watching and supporting her. I guess she's embracing the spotlight rather than shying away like Osaka. Good to see. I like her game and personality and hope she has more success.

And Giron defeated De Miñaur

Regarding Zverev on Stadium 3. I wonder if the tournament's powers that be are being a bit passive aggressive as punishment. He was scheduled to be on Practice Court 1 on Thursday at 4:00. There was a large crowd in the bleachers waiting for him, his face was on the screen on the corner. He never showed up.

And Coric lost the first set against Karlovic

Coric is now 0-3 against 40 year old, #89 Karlovic. He'll lose a lot of ranking points too

Bye, bye Kyrgios! Now we just need to have the monster (and its baby) lose and this will be a great IW.

America's sweetheart, Danielle Collins, looks to be back to her winning ways. DLers are ecstatic, I'm sure.

Who could not root for someone as charming and self-effacing as Danielle Collins!

[quote] They were doing the 'boobs out' together

Ugh. How cloying.

[quote] So glad Titsy is losing. His game irritates me to no end.

Which characteristics of his game irritate you?

[quote] Carla is so apathetic most of the time.

Who?

Venus vs. Kvitova has to be the only matchup with multiple meetings on the WTA to always go 3 sets. It's insane

wow Venus was down 4-6 0-3 double break and came back to win 4-6 7-5 6-4 . Kvitova was also up 4-3 break in the third.

It's weird to see Venus being more of the counterpuncher in a match lol but at her age she has lost some of her power so Kvitova is going to dictate most points unless Venus hits a great serve.

VENUS!!! YES!!!

BREAKING NEWS as just reported by Jim Courier:

A. Zverev no longer wants to be called Sasha! He wants to be known as Alexander!!

That’s old news, R135.

The Davis Cup team initiated FAA with these compression shorts.

Is Lendl still coaching Sascha?

Has anyone run into him @IW?

Pusher Djokovic won the first set.

Kvitova really could have made another push for #1 ranking in this tournament. Sigh. Always so close. From here on in a lot of points to defend.

Say what you will about the Williams sisters, but damn Indian Wells is lucky to have them back. The energy in both their blockbuster R2 matches was amazing, they both got difficult draws but delivered on the marquee matches for the crowd.

Watching Granny Vee fight today even though she has an injured elbow, was sick as a dog in her first round match, has the pressure of defending SF points, and playing the strongest player of the year (#1 in the race to the WTA finals) - from a set and a double break down, at 40 years old only makes the younger gen look even worse.

Madison Keys and Sloane Stephens will barely get out of bed in the morning unless you dangle $3million in front of them (both already eliminated from the tournament). I'm watching Wozniacki lose to Alexandrova now and the audience is almost falling asleep. K. Pliskova's earlier match had a similar effect, and Svitolina and Halep's matches yesterday were not much better. Osaka might have a bit more natural star power (I guess.... because she's Japanese and people like her cutesy 'awkward' thing), we'll see what kind of display she puts on for the crowd next.

I didn't go to the tennis today. But I still saw Angie Kerber, Darren Cahill, Andreas Seppi, Robin Haase, Christina McHale and Bianca Andrescu in person and all within about an hour at .... the Rancho Mirage Cheesecake Factory. Apologies for my bourgeois taste. It must be good luck because all those players, except Seppi, are still alive in the tournament.

LOL WHET to Nick K and Porna today? Caroline Woz can't even push properly these days

Lots of bad flops today apparently. Coric, Kyrgios, Basil, RBA, De Minaur all lost to players barely in the top 100 or even outside the top 200 (De Minaur).

I only caught the Nishioka v RBA match, the Japanese player was amazing. Don't have an explanation for the others... De Minaur always needs to come back down to earth a bit after the overhype they burden him with during the Australian season.

Nishioka was on the rise nearing Top 40 two years ago when he blew out his ACL in Miami, so not that bad of a loss for RBA. Same for Kyrgios against Kohlshcribber.

I just don't like that a lot of the biggest threats to the BIG 3 lost already lol. While I'm hoping for more upsets in the men' s game, it's the BIG 3 I want to see lose.

Djokovic wasn't going to lose against Keys' bf. I'm surprised the first set even went to a tiebreak

R144: De Miñaur is one of the younger players with less potential in terms of shots and talent, but like Munar, he has focus and determination and he is fast. The same way i'm sure he will never be a dominant number one, i'mm pretty sure he could be a top player for years and years (David Ferrer style).

He seems nice and humble on interviews but some of his behaviour on court is on Sascha Zverev league.

I didn't hear Tsitsipas press conference but his handshake was pretty nice. Some people on youtube are overreacting to FAA victory, it was a great victory and he played amazing but declaring him double digits GS champion it's a bit premature

R146 But he deserves some credit, it's true that he flopped when he was serving for the first set but at least he showed the right attitude and gave a good fight. Some players are defeated against the big three even before the start of the match, that was not his case

R144 I can definitely see the David Ferrer comparison. He does have some really annoying on court vamping and facial contorting (it's no surprise his coach is Hewitt lol)... it's just so campy to me, reminds me of Sharapova with all her evil-eyes and fist-clenching. Looking like a damn soap opera villain. Maybe if De Minaur wins a few more titles it'll be less embarrassing but he just looks like a puny kid trying to seem tough.

The other thing with him is that the way he plays, there is almost no way he gets to his mid 20s without some kind of injury. Running all over the court and diving around with his frail body for long, endless points. It's hard for players to sustain that kind of gamestyle for a long career (Ferrer is an exception more than a rule). I can see him being like Nishikori, constantly out healing, unless he adds SOME weaponry to his game.

The handshake was nice from Tsitsipas, it seems he had a healthy respect for FAA's performance. I agree that people are going a bit overboard. He's had a good few weeks (and could go deep here too!) but we've seen these breakthroughs before. And it's worth mentioning that Stefanos has played like 100 matches in the past few weeks, he wasn't quite at his best (not to take anything away from Felix's great performance!).

Martina Hingis had a baby!

FAKE NEWS!!!

FAA is hardly a flash in the pan, though. He's just getting started and already has become the youngest player ever to reach an ATP 500 final. And has anyone since Nadal entered the top 50 (where FAA is likely to be after his IW performance) at a younger age?

Hingis looks like the grandmother.

Is Hingis returning to the tour?

[quote] Caroline Woz can't even push properly these days

Is she giving birth?

R152: True, but at this stage is impossible to know where his career will go. For example Zverev won a masters 1000 at a very young age but his performance on GS is subpar for a top 10 player.

Felix is a really great prospect, if you look other promising youngsters they generally have some strong points and some weakness (kuhn for example has an amazing backhand but his forehand is not nearly as good, Shapovalov has impressive groundstrokes but his serve is not remotely on that level) but Felix has all the shots. But tennis is more than a big serve and great forehand and backhand, it's about determination and strong mentality and chosing the right shot at the right moment. One of the most interesting things of yesterday's match (yes, Felix played really well, but Tsitsipas played way below his level with a good bunch of absurd unforced errors) is the fact that when he served for the first set and the match he had no hesitation. That's a very good sign

Nole.

Pete Sampras was at the Djokovic match last night

wow Edmund destroyed Jarry and Krajinovic whupped Goffin. First 2 completed singles matches of the day

[quote] Pete Sampras was at the Djokovic match last night

Djokcovic posted about it on his Twitter account, DjokerNole, last night:

[quote] Very special to have my idol watching tonight 🙏🙏🙏 #50 #BNPPO19

Gojo team or Fed team?

I am #TeamAnyoneWhoBeatsBig3 team (except the bigots)

Goffin is the kind of player that needs to be in top form, he doesn't have the weapons to compete so if he is not fast and playing at his best he is an easy target. The only player of that kind who was able to stay as a top player for long was David Ferrer but in terms of being in form David is a beast and he had a good forehand.

Edmund seems to be playing well again. He won against Rublev last week very easily. He can be accused of vulturing on small tournaments but sometimes a player only needs a couple of victories to have his confidence back

R161 but most people who could be an alternative are failing in early rounds

[quote] he doesn't have the weapons to compete

He is magically delicious though.

[quote] I am #TeamAnyoneWhoBeatsBig3 team (except the bigots)

Big 3. I'm crying. I yearn for the Big 4.

Those were the days my friend

We thought they'd never end

We'd sing and dance forever and a day

We'd live the life we choose

We'd fight and never lose

For we were young and sure to have our way.

Gojo can be tricky when he plays well. He's not very big but he absorbs pace well, takes the ball early and can redirect shots. These slow courts might help him at least make the match competitive

lol Courier just said Federer stays at the house Stallone used to own in the PS area

[quote] He's not very big but he absorbs pace well

Pace? Journeyman from Bologna in the early 90s right? Yes, easily absorbable.

I was watching a video of Tsitsipas-FAA at the US Open junior and the match started exactly the same, with a break on the third game and with Tsitsipas wasting break point to break back.

Stefanos looked way better with shorter hair

Roger won the first set very easily

Always the drama with Miss Williams. Ugh.

Wonder what the injury is

I think her BABY!!! got her sick

She wasn't moving well after going up 3-0 and she rarely retires. It's a shame when a marquee match ends like this. Hopefully she can play Miami

Ostapenko down to 103. That's some fall.

R173 Has she retired? I'm watching on the ESPN app and it's been on the "Your Event Is About To Begin Please Stand By" screen ever since the end of the 4-3 game.

yes Mugururza wins 6-3 1-0 ret.

Thanks. The stream I was watching didn't show anything after 4-3.

I didn't lose. I retired from the match with an injury.

Serena got up 3-0 because Garbine apparently came out with the oh so clever plan to hit every damn ball right back to her. Plus she was floating returns long when Serena was barely hitting her serves. I got so annoyed I had to stop watching.

[quote]Ostapenko down to 103. That's some fall

That's the 'WTA Race' (to Singapore) ranking, her regular WTA ranking is #22. She lost in the 3rd round lasr year as well so her ranking won't change much. She has a lot of points to defend in Miami though

Shopbottom team

Federer said Sunshine Double. My day is now sunshiny.

Rafa team

[quote] Rafa team

And I abhor Rafa.

you abhor Jared D. even more?

Rafa in neon pink. Or is that technically fuchsia?

Jared D has a gut.

R187 I was thinking the same thing! The guy looks reasonably lanky/skinny (look at his legs) yet he's got a gut, and working on a double chin.

At 22 Jared D. already looks like a middle-aged Republican

Serna never gives her 100% in non-grand slams tournaments. She saves her best for grand slams. She barely plays 6-7 tournament per year which is a good strategy considering her age.

the problem is that she is not even winning grand slams anymore.

This year Wimbledon is her best shot to surpass MSC

Serena is just making bank.

R189 holy shit that's bad. and so was his beatdown tonight. He's not close to an elite level

Fucsovics is hot.

lmao this Wawrinka-Fucsovics match is a mess.

Federer must be thrilled.

Another embarrassing loss for Lucas

Marton can crank it.

I want Stan to beat Rogie, but he's already lost to him 3 times in Indian Wells alone, and has never beaten him outside of a clay court. The courts might as well be clay though they are that fucking slow this year.

Serena match was weird. She was up 3-0 and dominating and then somehow couldn't breathe or move properly. She lost the next 7 games in a row (which nobody does against Muguruza these days) and for some reason the trainer took forever to come to the court. I'm not a fan but I also don't really like Garbine (lol). It's a bit unfortunate after the great match against Vika.

That section of the draw is now between Garbine and Kiki Bertens, two clay grinders. I give the edge to Kiki to make the QF.

Crybaby

I saw the following matches live today.

Goffin-Krajinovic. Goffin was always on the back foot and couldn't transition from defense to offense. He looked dejected and out of confidence. It was cute to see him yell "Come on" in his soft, delicate voice. Krajinovic appeared totally healthy again and his ground strokes were smooth as he easily overpowered Goffin who as of now is ranked 90+ ahead of him. Krajinovic is obviously much better than his current ranking.

Schwartzman-Carballes Baena. Ugly match especially at the beginning. Error, error, error. Diego is cute and all but he got into the top 20 mostly on willpower. Still he eventually put away Carballes Baena by being consistent enough. Carballes Baena could not finish a point.

Pella-Bolt. Bolt hit the ball harder (great serve too) and appeared to be on his way to victory in the third set but a few small errors led to a single Pella break who then served the match out. Very little separated these today. Pella is extremely good looking. He also signed everything put in front of him and took photos with everyone who asked.

Khachanov-F. Lopez. MESS. Khachanov can't keep the ball in the court these days and Lopez is old, slow, and stiff now and has trouble rallying. It's weird to see a guy six foot four basically push but that's what Lopez did and it was successful for some of the time. His serve is still great, though. Lopez was extremely surly and from the very beginning of the match he was screaming at his box. Somebody must've pissed in his paella. He was up a break up in the final set only to promptly crumble including a double fault in his last service game. After the last point, he destroyed his racket, screamed more at his box, and then marched off the court ignoring everyone but Khachanov. The new Madrid Masters tournament director everyone! He's very hot but he also knows it. Khachanov is very easy to like but he needs to learn how to control all his power.

Wawrinka-Fuscovics. I saw part of this and it was indeed messy but highly entertaining with some great rallies, shot making and some hilarious misses. The crowd was loving it and both Stan and Fuscovics were appreciative and having fun (unlike Feli Lopez). His frosted tips are ridiculous though. :)

I saw bits of Andreescu's match but the crazy Romanians who haunt tournaments all around the world made it intolerable to stay very long. Hubert Hurkacz who beat Pouille is very good; moves extremely well for his size. He just outplayed Pouille.

Krajinovic, Farah and Cabal

I think Serena is officially over. Margaret Court can go back to bookmarking her wrinkles and denouncing the lezzies in the locker room.

[quote]I think Serena is officially over

Nah. Serena at Slams > Serena on regular tour.

Thanks for all of these posts, folks! I love the experts here and the eye-witness accounts. Makes watching on TV even more enjoyable!

There was a quick shot on Saturday of a ball boy who must have weighed about 200 lbs that was pretty funny.....didn't see him again.....but it made me laugh.

introvert Osala will play extrovert Collins.

Who would be supported by Dlers?

introvert or extrovert?

Introvert Osaka. I’m an introvert myself.

No one will be rooting for Collins except maybe her parents and Kathy Rinaldi.

Courier loves talking about the ATP player bodies. He just said Giron is "very solid from the waist down"

R202 Serena only has a chance at slams if she can avoid Osaka, Pliskova, Muguruza (on clay esp.), Kerber, Kvitova, Sabalenka, and Collins (if she's on). If she has to play 2 or more of them, she's gone. Of course, she's been incredibly lucky with draws for the last 3 or 4 years, so she'll probably get a couple more cakewalks if she hangs around long enough. Let's hope that baby keeps sabotaging her.

R208 what are you talking about? She was up 5-1 on Pliskova in the final set at the AO until she hurt her ankle. Yesterday she was up 3-0 before her medical issue. Hate her all you want but she played very well in taking out Azarenka. Azarenka would have beaten most other players with her form that day.

R197 Garbine is hardly a clay grinder. You have to play spectacular defense to be considered that and defense is NOT her strength. Plus, she won Wimbledon (while reaching the final twice).

Also, Serena was only "dominating" because Garbine was doing absolutely nothing with the ball (Serena literally did not have to move). Once she started hitting away from her things turned around.

Serena has been out of shape for years. Many of her "injuries" stem from that lack of fitness.

Let's be fair, Garbiñe is subpar against big hitters with the exception of Serena. With the exception of their first match she always find a way to give Serena trouble. And yes, she is playing like crap and looking like she doesn't care at all, but she was playing bad before her Wimbledon win, just like Serena, she is a player the generally gets motivated on GS.

And Serena is just like Rafa or Roger, maybe she is in bad form but if she reach the second week on a GS she becames a thread. Apart of Osaka and Garbiñe who know what it is defeat her on a GS final, i doubt most of the tops will be able to play their best against Serena on a GS final (at least without choke)

R209 I'm the one upthread that mentioned how poor the quality of the Vika/Serena match was. What match were you watching? The only time in the match Azarenka actually hit the ball was in the last 3 games. And she lost 2 of them because she screwed up 2 easy put aways and then Serena framed a ball from one line to another when down break point in the last game. Typical. If there's one thing Azarenka has gotten really good at lately, it's finding a way to lose.

And what's your point about the Pliskova match? The head-to-head is even. If you remember, Pliskova had 4-2, 40-0 in their US Open match and then tanked it. Serena completely choked while up 5-1. It happens. I don't see how bringing that match up strengthens an argument for Serena winning slams.

wow Giron up 6-4 over Raonic

R212 You forgot that Kerber has beaten her twice.

R213 the last half of the first set and most of the second set were good quality but you're too biased against Serena to admit it.

and how is hurting her ankle and then losing while up 5-1 a choke? If your ankle is hurting you it's hard to play well.

but don't let your hate for Serena get in the way of the truth. You don't win that many grand slams by luck and because everyone else sucks.

She's out of the tournament but you're still obsessively talking about her as you always do

Kerber at her best gets almost everything back that Serena throws at her and makes her move.

[quote] Courier loves talking about the ATP player bodies. He just said Giron is "very solid from the waist down"

During one of the matches yesterday courier complimented something (“tantalizing treat” or something like that), and my first thought was “That sounds like something Courier would say about a player’s body.”

It's nice to see Giron playing well but let's hope he can do it for more than 1 tournament. I hope he's not a deplorable though he is from Thousand Oaks

Too bad Sandgren couldn't have started flopping before he won that title in New Zealand

oh wow Giron has had both his hips operated on. That's a bad sign for the future if he keeps progressing

Is he gay? And what is wrong with Kerber these days?

Vikhlyantseva is a big hitter who doesn't move well and is usually inconsistent. Kerber should cruise against her on these slow courts unless Natalia is suddenly not making any errors

wow Raonic just tagged Giron at net, hitting his forehand into Giron's shoulder.

He would never dare to do that against big 4

R215: You are right, i forgot Kerber and when she is on she gives Serena a run for the money.

I hope Giron wins, it's nice to have a surprise player doing a great run at a big tournament. And frankly Raonic's game bore me to tears

R219 Giron retweeted this on election day 2016, that's the only remotely political thing I found on his social media on a quick glance.

R216 No. Azarenka is nowhere near her usual level and while Serena's groundies were typically inconsistent -- which is part of why she wins -- she served poorly. Most of the match was not good quality.

You're right, Serena doesn't just win because she's lucky and everyone sucks -- she cheats too!

Serena has been the beneficiary of some of the greatest chokes I've ever witnessed and is BY FAR the luckiest player I have ever seen. Not to mention the powers that be have done everything they could to protect and aid her because she means huge money for the tour. Wake up to reality. Anyone else would've been removed from the tour for at least a year after the 2009 US Open incident. That would've had a profound impact on her career. But let's protect our cash cow! She should've been defaulted at the 2016 Wimbledon. Again, let's protect her. They saved her ass not once but TWICE while losing against Kuznetsova by interrupting play to close the roof. I could make a list a mile long, but I'm not going to waste my time trying to convince one her apologists.

R226 that is a good sign

R227 you sound unhinged dear but clearly it makes you feel better to repeat the same garbage in thread after thread, even when Serena is already out of a tournament

I'm not Serena's biggest fan but other players don't choke against Serena for the sake of choke, they choke for a reason

Actually, I think Pliskobot was ahead 4-3. My mistake.

R229 Or you just can't handle a little truth telling, dear

R232 nope no one takes that seriously. You think all Serena can do is serve yet she's won RG and other clay titles as well as the AO when it used to be rebound ace. The truth is you just hate her which is your right but your BS explanations for why she's won so much are laughable. You act like every top player would beat her if they just played their best, as if their best is better than her best.. No tennis expert would agree with you.

If only ATP/WTA tennis courts were equipped with these for when players launch into rants against umpires...

R234 lol then 3/4 of the top 100 would have fallen through by now

BS explanations? All of those things happened. I didn't make them up. How are they BS?

The FACT is she has at least 4 slams that she should not have because of what I mentioned.

Novotna choked against Graf in their Wimbledon final.Medvedev choked in his final against Agassi, it happens all the time.

When you play against Serena you play against someone who puts you under pressure when you are serving, someone who is intimidating, it's not surprising that some players (and the circuit is not exactly full on players with strong mentality) choke on the moment of truth

I think it's perfectly ok not to like Serena's game or even herself, but deny she is one of the greatest is ridiculous

And talking about chokes, Giron lost his five last games just to lost against Raonic

Nole snubbing Roger...read about it in the news.

r238, Ohh that's bad I hope he doesn't join his fellow countrymen like Querry, Isner, Steve Johnson, Jared Donaldson and Tiafoe as a certified loser.

And choking against Raonic is bad who himself is a certified loser.

Great shot of Shapavolov- he's a kid- give him a break. Tsitsipas did not have a good day, but then again FAA is a younger peer which is always hard to handle. Also Tsit coming off a great run to get to #10. Of all of them, I think Tsit and then Shap have the best chance of winning slams- both have to harness their talent more. But both have big time all court games- no real weakness. Shap's return of serve sucks but that can be corrected. We'll see, both are exciting young players, and I think potential stars.

Shapo has a semi decent serve and he is not good at return to serve. In my opinion his groundstrokes are so good (and so entertaining to watch) that overlook his clear flaws.

I think FAA has a lot of potential but it's simply too soon.

Tsitsipas in on the good path to be a top player, it will have his ups and downs but even if he lose his top 10 position this week he'll recover it soon.

Right now there's a good bunch of young players climbing in the rankings. Like it happened to FAA they could stall for a while but then they win a couple of matches and show their potential. I think next year will be very interesting and hopefully some of them will rise this year

[quote] Nole snubbing Roger...read about it in the news.

Link please.

And Sascha is losing in great fashion against Struff

Struff is playing amazing. Isn't Zverev supposed to be ill?

[quote] And Sascha is losing in great fashion against Struff

Alexander.

R239 is referring to some players' council intrigue.

Well, he snubbed Nadal too

And Sascha lose his match. Maybe he was ill after all because a 63 61 lose is not usual for him (at least outside of a GS). He starts to defend a lot of points in Miami

It seems that Kecmanovic and Rublev really want to take profit of their LL. I wouldn't be surprised if Rublev defeat Khachanov, Karen is playing badly lately. And Miomir is defeating Djere (who is not playing bad at all lately)

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

I enjoy Raonic's 70's style white trimmed gym trunks.

ooh BIG 3 drama!

I bet Andy is seething now since he can't even be part of this off-court situation

Félix!

Kerber, Sabalenka, Venus, Barthel, Kontaveit and Pliskova all winners today.

Monfils continuing his great form. Being with Svitolina seems to have given him mojo.

[quote] Félix!

Yay!

What is going on with WTA and this viral illness? Half the players in Doha/Dubai caught it and withdrew or said they felt sick (Wozniacki was one of the withdrawals). This week Venus was clearly hit by it in her round 1, Serena retired in her match with Muguruza, and today Sevastova retired against Kontaveit with the same thing? I would be staying the hell away from the locker room. Still, Venus lives to see another day.

Watching FAA vs Nishioka now and though it's early days (still on serve at 3-3), FAA looks a little rattled today. After only one or two points he told the umpire to tell the crowd to be quiet (in the first game), he is shanking a lot of balls or making easy errors, and he doesn't look quite as composed as he has earlier in the week. Nishioka is giving him a lot of free points with his errors and even hitting putaways right back to him but he is unable to take full advantage the way he did against Stef.

[quote] What is going on with WTA and this viral illness?

It’s lesbianism. It’s catching. It’s an infectious disease!

Yep. FAA getting super tight and rattled at the end of that set. Hit 2 consecutive double faults (though got away with the second one as the line judges failed to call it), Nishioka takes the set 6-4.

[quote] Yep. FAA getting super tight and rattled at the end of that set.

Must be the recent Boeing 737 crashes.

I’m such a fan of Nishikori! I want him to beat that Felix guy. Did I tell you I also love Chinese? I’m ready to eat again after 30 minutes though.

Nishikoka fails to serve out the match at 5-3

Osaka team or Collins team?

OSAKA

Was almost a mammoth choke from Nishioka after 5-1 up in the 3rd set. Just couldn't find the court until suddenly FAA was in a final set tiebreak with 5-4 and the next two serves, but finally Nishioka was able to close it. He was the better player for the majority of the match so i'm glad he got it done in the end, would have been sad to lose with such a lead.

Nishioka is fun to watch with his super speed but I also wanted FAA to win. Hopefully both can make some noise in Miami too

it's a bit annoying that so far the lower ranked challengers did not draw any of the big 3. They ended up drawing seeded challengers of the Big 3

Heartbreaker for FAA. He was so close to pulling out a huge win from so far behind in the third set.

Nishioka's stumpy body and guttural yells are not fun at all. And his hair dye and earring just reinforce the sow's ear.

Osaka handled Collins with ease. Guess Danielle will have to get used to LOSING

Cocky Collins Collapse is Complete

R269 = Bud Collins

MioMir Kecmanovic who is only 19 and is from Serbia has defeated his felliw ciountryman Dejere in straight sets. Can he become next up and coming ?

ESL!

As much as I love Alexander Zverev, I'm stoked that Struff won. I was there for his first round match on Thursday evening, and he was hitting cannonballs. I also think there's a chance he might be gay. Something about his feature on Tennis Channel's "Bag Check" sets off my gaydar.

Maybe it's just wishful thinking, because I find him really sexy. I want him to yell at me in German to take all if his dick.

Melo Insta

Overheard at IW today.

"Milos would've won multiple slams by now if Canada had its own slam." "The Americans are so disrespectful. Shapo should be on stadium one ONLY." "Thiem's ass is at war with his shorts and his ass is winning."

[quote] "Thiem's ass is at war with his shorts and his ass is winning."

Tehe.

Nadal’s crack is at war with his OCD, and the OCD is sinking his fingers into the depth of the trench.

All the furore about the Player Council ousting Chris Kermode is apparently down to Kermode's support for more combined events and the ATP players disliking them because of equal prize money.

Team Ass!

[quote]Team Ass!

[quote] Team Ass!

Who’s on it?

Who ISN'T???

a lot of potentially good matches today

Bitsipas? Tsibipas? Tsitsibis?

Does he support the Green party?

Garbine should've won this set 6-1 or 6-2. Screwed up 3 easy short balls and has paid dearly for it.

If you hit too many balls in the center of the court to Bertens' forehand, you'll be in trouble. Muguruza wasn't attacking her backhand enough in the second half of the set

[quote] If you hit too many balls in the center of the court to Bertens' forehand, you'll be in trouble.

None of these girls are used to having balls anywhere near them. None of them!

Has Sumyk been on court yet?

Kecmanovic is on the verge of top 100 now. After a not so great results this year he is taking full profit of his luck (LL) this week

And russians really have a problem, both Khachanov and Medvedev were doing really well till they became top 20, the moment they went from underdogs to favourites they started to tank. Not a good sign

For once i'm rooting for Shapo (even it's mostly because i want Tsitsipas to stay in the top 10)

Nadal's OCD is hard to watch.....and Schwartzman is easy on the eyes - from the neck down....AND my 200 pound ball boy is back!

Dennis is dreamy.

wow upset special today!!! So far Nadal is the only higher ranked player to win (though Isner is about to join him)

Muguruza upset top 10 Bertens

Vondroussova 3 set win over Halep!

Andreescu def Q, Wang

Hurkacz def. Nishikori

Shapovalov def. Cilic

Krajinovic def. Medvedev

Halep was actually embarrassing to watch today, only 6 winners in a three set match... she just refuses to follow her shots in and always pays for it. Nishikori not much better in that regard. Muguruza beat Bertens but this is still the furthest Kiki has gone in Indian Wells so not a bad week. She will want to step her game up before clay season arrives though.

Andreescu basically couldn't ask for a better start to the year. I keep expecting her to hit a wall, but the girls are just having so much trouble penetrating her game. We'll see how Garbine does. Maybe on mute because Muguruza's fake grunt has become beyond unbearable.

Djokovic just lost his first ever set to Granny Kohlschreiber. Racquet smash already done, tantrums incoming.

Wawrinkass

R284, what *is* that??!!?

He likes both the titsy and the ass?

Djokovic is not pleased with the proceedings.....

lol Courier is calling Djokovic low energy

I hope Kohlschreiber kicks Djokovic’s arse from here to next year’s Australian open.

what r302 said

Kohlschreiber team

Null!

Tits!

Buh-bye Nolé!

Wonder who will make it through the top half now. Raonic?

Svitolina avoids the upset bug with a long 3 setter over Barty

Courier prefers high energy tops

Venus and Khachanov through

I can't believe both Novak, and Naomi shat the bed.

wow didn't expect Bencic to defeat Osaka so easily

Tennis is about matchups, folks! And that one was bad for Osaka.

Stan team or Gramps team?

omg Djokovic has taught Fognini to do his "giving you my heart" gesture after wins. They just did it together just now after winning their match tonight

Cringe squared.

[quote] omg

Dyatlov right?

[quote] omg Djokovic has taught Fognini to do his "giving you my heart" gesture after wins

It’s properly called “boobs out”. They did it in the prior round as well.

I call it the Tit Toss.

Womens QF are almost all set and look how disparate the competition is on both sides of the draw.

Bottom half: Svitolina (in tragic form), Andreescu, Vondrousova, Muguruza (also in rather trash form).

Top half: Bencic (currently in god mode), Venus, Pliskova, and either Kerber or Sabalenka.

Gramps!

and once again Wawrinka bends over for daddy Federer. His game is just largely ineffective against him.

If it comes to this in the quarterfinals: Shopbottom team or Gramps team?

from the other night...the celebration

Overheard today at IW

"I find Shapo cute even though he looks like a Cabbage Patch doll."

"You can tell this is a violent country because only in America do people cheer racket smashing."

[quote] "I find Shapo cute even though he looks like a Cabbage Patch doll."

I think he looks more like Janice from the Muppets.

The top half of the men's draw is sad. Let's hope Thiem can come through, although I fear we'll have some shit-fest like a Raonic-Karlovic semi-final instead.

Kerber wins 6-1 4-6 6-4 over Sabalenka. Aryna had 4-1 in the third too

Aryna was up a double break! She was even going okay in that service game before double faulting twice in a row. After that she couldn't even keep a ball in the court. Kerber just had to stand there basically.

It was a weird day, Sabalenka had a fight or something with her coach Tursonov (they had a bizarre dead silent OCC) and then after that she was absolutely dominating Kerber and shooting him dirty looks. The commentators said she asked him "can't you support me?" and he replied "no". Then from 4-1 up and on her serve she just had a mini meltdown. She also blew 6 match points against Bencic in Dubai so she will want to watch out for these choking tendencies.

Kerber got VERY lucky. Even Granny Vee with her elbow injury (who she plays next) probably wouldn't choke a lead that big.

I saw the final set. Sablenka was playing amazing. then at 4-1/30/15, I saw Berdy or Gasquet level of choke. Sablenake was lucky that the crowd didn't booed her off the court which she rightly deserved.

Team Shopbottom. He may be dumb but he's likable and fun to watch.

Oh Chrissie..

[quote] Oh Chrissie..

Her pencil is doing it’s work.

Bummed for Nole, but he was clearly out of sorts. Interesting how wild his FH gets and then he layers it with all that drama. Fed and Rafa tend to just shake their heads and sulk; Nole is more demonstrative.

Can't help but love Shapo and the blonde fur on his legs, mmm.

Mari Osaka gets a MD wild card into Miami.

[quote]Her pencil is doing it’s work.

Oh, dear.

All Miami wild cards

[quote]what [R302] said

And r302 got what he wanted—maybe not right up to the Australian Open, but at least until Miami. R302 is very, very happy.

[quote] Oh, dear.

I apologize. I wish my pencil had an eraser.

wow Miami is making Tsonga go through qualifying

so Shapovalov wants to be a rapper.

the Putin lover has no flow

[quote] so Shapovalov wants to be a rapper

That’s quite pathetic.

R296, well this is in fact the second time Djokovic lose to Kohlschreiber. The german defeated Nole in great fashion at RG 2009 without dropping a set. Kohlschreiber is very talented, with a better mentality he could have achieved way more.

I don't find Garbiñe victory against Bertens a surprise at all. At this time Garbiñe winning or losing is hardly a surprise no matter the rival, she can defeat anyone on a good day and lose against anyone on a bad one.

R338 People complaining about Djere and FAA not getting a wc are funny (they were already on the MD). And complaining about Kuhn's wc is absurd. Miami always gives a wc to a img promising player. Kuhn has a low ranking (he is the third player born in 00 anywat) but that's because he had a injury last year that cut his progression when he was already top 200 (back then only FAA was ahead him of the players born in 2000)

And i really like they give a wc to Tseng. He is one of the best juniors in recent year (champion on RG and Wimbledon, finalist at AO and semis at US Open). He has a very entertaining game. Unfortunately he is short and his serve needs a lot of improvement but he is funny to watch for sure (and he is very young, he is still a junior)

And Kecmanovic is top 100 now. He is the second youngest player on the top 100. Young promising players can struggle for a while but suddenly they have a good week and their real career starts

wow, after a great win Garbiñe is being bashed today by Andreescu.

Shapo played very well against Cilic

Team Hurkacz. Rappin' Putin lover Shapo is as annoying and obnoxious as compatriot FAA is charismatic and diplomatic. I couldn't even get through the first five seconds of the Shapo post-match cringe at R342. Too bad Felix isn't still in the draw.

I'm kind of freaked out by those pockets on the inside of the women's skirts....it looks like they are pulling that second serve ball out of.....well....someplace I wouldn't want a ball served to me from.

Joe Willy Tsonga as a WC in quallies?! Seems like they're giving him the middle finger.

R348: To be fair, Shapo was very nice with FAA after Felix collapsed on their match at the US Open (by the way that highlights were one of the worst i've ever seem, the US Open should hire someone who know how to make highlights of a match)

Agreed, R351, I just wish he'd drop the rap (because he's so bad at it) and educate himself enough to realize that Putin is not the least bit admirable. Also the racket abuse, but at least he's learned his lesson about not trying to knock balls out of the stadium.

The raquet abuse is a trend between the next gen. Even someone so shy and nice as Alex de Miñaur is a danger for raquets

Shapo is a ball of fun and I hope he can find great success in years to come. I actually love his personality. He's young and on the professional tennis circuit. Lucky guy.

Aaaand, just as soon as you write that R353, Shapo smacks his racket to the ground as he loses to Hurcarz.

The Miami (IMG Open) wild cards are always hilarious. People mock the US and French tournaments for giving their young players, including many scrubs, wild cards but IMG manages to top them. Mari Osaka is ranked something like 375 and isn't young anymore so that excuse doesn't work. I didn't even know Kuhn was still playing. And David Ferrer's farewell tour makes another unexpected stop in Miami. Also Eubanks over Giron?

Who hits a forehand like this? Jesus. That's where he gets the spin.

Khachanov now 4-0 against Isner. Pretty sure that only Nadal and Murray have even better records against the servebot

Muguruza was absolutely pathetic today. Andreescu played well but Muguruza should have gotten at least 4 more games.

M. Osaka

Karen’s legs

One of the guys involved in the college entrance cheating scandal is supposedly a former pro tennis player named Mark Riddell. According to the below-linked article “he is described as a Harvard University graduate and former Division 1 NCAA tennis player.”

Are any of you aware of him as a tennis player?

[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.]

looking at his ATP page he never had a singles ranking but in 2005 he hit #1581 in doubles

Thanks, R364.

[quote] $892 Prize Money Singles & Doubles Combined

I'm actually surprised Thiem won comfortably over Karlovic. His return-of-serve is probably the weakest part of his game and obviously Karlovic's serve is his biggest strength.

The court is super slow. That helps Thiem.

Kohlschreiber team or Monfils team? Winner meets Domicakes.

ugh Svitolina keeps on winning

Karen Hemsworth team or Rafa team?

Kohlschreiber should get rid of that disgusting back neck mole.

wow Monfils with a bagel.

Gasquet and Pavlychenkova should get a joint Instagram account. It's done wonders for some players.

If Shapo tries that rap nonsense in New York he'll get shot on his way back to the hotel.

How much did the Osaka family and IMG play for Mari Osaka to get a WC for Miami? This is beyond shameless. The girl has never even been ranked higher than 280. She has only played two matches this year. Both times she was thrashed in straight sets, one was a double bagel. Really unfair to all the girls who have worked hard and are in form... even a qualifying WC would be too much, all just because of who her sister is. She better pray she draws Mladenovic in the first round.

Making Tsonga and Opelka go through qualifying despite their recent results (and in Tsgona's case box office potential?) is also pretty low. Wtf is happening James Blake!?

Elina Svitolina keeps surviving her opponents who play much better than her for most of the match. On these courts her movement and mentality are pretty hard to defeat. To her credit you really have to BEAT her, she is not going to give it to you. The way Monfils is playing... could we be looking at a G.E.M.S L.I.F.E Indian Wells double?

[quote] could we be looking at a G.E.M.S L.I.F.E Indian Wells double?

How does that compare to a Sunshine Double?

I've watched La Monf's matches for over a decade and this is close to if not the best I've ever seen him play.

wow Monfils with the beatdown. Even in the 2 games Kohlchreiber held, Monfils had break point in both

Miami (IMG) is making four recent title winners Opelka, Djere, Albot and Londero, the best teen FAA, and former top five player Tsonga play qualies.

James Blake is responsible for this??? Pathetic that any of them are being forced to qualify while Eubanks and Tseng are squeezed in at their expense.

From reddit:

"Opelka made the mistake of not signing with IMG.

It's not a coincidence that nearly every single player to get main draw wildcards into Miami in the last three years is signed with the same agency that the tournament director is involved with"

Is he a Sunshine Double winner!?

Isn't it also a rule generally that if you get a WC at IW, you don't get one at Miami? Unless it's a superstar who needs one in both

IMG owns the Miami tournament so every year all or most of their wild cards go to their clients, so it's not because James Blake is also their client. Although if he wasn't, then he likely wouldn't have been made TD at Miami in the first place.

I'm eager to see the new Miami courts and facility.

IMG already have most of the promising young players anyway. So it's not usually that bad. But the egregiousness of who got QWC and who got a MD WC is crazy. Tsonga in qualifying? Christina McHale almost made it to the Indian Wells second week, and yet she's in qualifying here and Mari 'double bagel' Osaka gets an MD spot? For literally no other reason than nepotism?

It just comes across even worse after the Lori Loughlin/Felicity Halfman college bribe scandal. They are taking these spots away from players that work so hard.

Also just because IMG are a bigger machine doesn't mean James Blake should be let off the hook. He's the fucking tournament director lol.

I hope M. Osaka draws Serena in R1.

Why don't they grow a brain and make Miami a green clay court event? We keep hearing how badly US players do on clay overseas. Maybe if they played more than 1 or 2 clay events stateside they wouldn't be. I know it will fall on deaf ears. Tennis is so stupid now.

r385 great idea

Grrrrrrr

R385 Miami is one of the 'veteran' events on the tour and I don't think they'd wanna change it now (especially since they've already switched venues). It's also the biggest PR opportunity for tennis in the US after the US Open, consistently high viewership on TV (historically more than Indian Wells), and they've adopted the title of "the Glam Slam". They want the Americans and big stars to win, and that's how it's been such a big moneymaker because they have.

The event became the success it is because of all those consecutive blockbuster finals matches between Agassi/Sampras, as well as Capriati (Miami native) and the Williamses... Agassi Sampras and Roddick collectively won it 11 times, Venus and Serena have won it a combined 11 too. This was the era where it drew the kind of numbers to become a real Tier I event and one of the biggest on the tour.

Since American players today are absolutely tragic on clay it would completely undermine their interests. 90% of players (American and otherwise) learn to play in Miami/Florida tennis camps and facilities on nothing but hard courts. The one tournament in Miami was never going to be on any other surface.

R356: Still playing? Kuhn is 18

It should be a given that a MD WC will be granted to any player who's entered the top 75 after the original player entry list was created. The six weeks that elapse from the time of the player entry list creation until the first day of play is too long. Leaving FAA and Djere off the Miami MD is unacceptable.

I'm starting to like Kyrgios, the fact that he doesn't give a fuck about the opinions of others is quite refreshing (even if he generally doesn't make it the most polite way).

He was making fun at the fact that a lot of people were saying that something happened with Djokovic, and he simply said the obvious, first Kolshreiber is a good player, and second Nole wasn't so ill when he played (and won) the doubles match after being defeated in singles

And sorry, but i don't understand the drama with the Miami wc, this happens on GS all the time

ACLU disagrees with Martina

Kyrgios was also the only player to publicly criticise Shapo's rap.

It's not drama, R391, just continued disgust with a system that awards wild cards to players who clearly don't deserve to be chosen over players who have demonstrated great recent improvement, etc. It's understood that GS will grant wild cards to compatriots, but ATP needs to look at some WC reforms for their events, especially at the 1000 level.

Shapo was way less inspired yesterday, a lot of UE, a lot of aggressive come ons and fist pumps and some raquet smashing

R394: Kuhn and Tseng were top juniors both are among the best of their age. People are talking about FAA having to play the qualification when he is one of the players who benefited from this kind of wc in the past. Djere being an almost top 30 should be in the MD no matter what, but this kind of things happens all the time

[quote] Kyrgios was also the only player to publicly criticise Shapo's rap.

For how badly it sucked?

I think generally Indian Wells and Miami do not give the same players a WC in the same year

R396: More than criticise he was making some fan. Shapo's rap was not popular on internet, and Kyrgios simply said that Shapo is good, he will be a great player for years and years but that rap was hard to watch

R396 yeah he wrote something along the lines of "you have a huge future but this was tough to watch".

Also there's a difference between 'promising juniors' and Mari Osaka getting the biggest paycheck and ranking boost possible on the tour, while barely ranked in the top 400, just because her sister is the WTA's golden girl.

Yes, Mari Osaka wc would be difficult to justify even if it was only a qualifying wc

R395, why would the level of frequency justify sketchy wild cards?

Belinda is on fire

R401: Frankly, men's wc are not that surprising, a veteran and four young and promising players on the MD. Of course Tsonga should get a MD wc but the rest is what you expect. Women's wc are more random

Not what I'd expect, R403. Tseng is only a year younger than FAA and hasn't yet cracked the top 400. Eubanks is almost 23 and has never cracked the top 150. And Kuhn, currently ranked 248, over Djere and FAA makes no sense either. There's nothing that precludes WC entries into both IW and Miami. IMG bites.

Sorry, but it seems you don't know nothing about what this thing works. Muguruza was a complete nobody when she received her wc. And don't get me start with Paula Badosa (who didn't crack the top 100 because she is unable to stop her diva antics but the truth is she took profit of the wc and even won some matches on the MD

Tseng was junior number one and won Roland Garros and Wimbledon (and was finalist at the Australian Open), he is the player born in 2001 with the best ranking. And a year makes a world at those ages. Anyway he is not Felix, he is indeed a small guy who will rely on his talent so he'll probably get more trouble to get near the top 100. You never know with young players, nobody expected Alex de Miñaur to rise on the rankings the way he did last year. Kecmanovic could be near top 60 if he wins today but just before this week he is getting a lot of trouble to hit the top 100.

Felix is not the meassure of anything. Yes, he is very talented, but he has a big serve and he is a big guy. Other talented juniors need way more time to develop because they don't have those natural advantages

Kuhn was top 200 last year before getting injured. He didn't recover yet, he is irregular, but he is a talented player, he used to be the second best player born in 2000 behind FAA.

Felix received a good bunch of wc in the past. And receiving too many wc didn't do any favour to Richard Gasquet career.

There are random wc every week

Tseng

Tsonga

Tsurenko

I know how it works, R405. I just don't agree with the IMG-biased choices. Djere and FAA should be there rather than Tseng and Eubanks. Consequently we're missing what's more likely to be better tennis.

No, we are not missing anything because Djere and FAA should qualify anyway.

And they won't have this problem on clay season. Yes, they have to play qualys on Miami but in fact both rose on the ranking at the right time to get into the MD of the res of Grand Slams this season.

I iwas hoping Kecmanovic could pull a surprise but it seems it won't be this time. At least the Monfils-Thiem should be interesting. The other semi should be Federer-Nadal, i suppose it's what most people want but i was hoping for new faces on the last rounds of master 1000

Yes, Djere and FAA should qualify, but should they be forced to qualify when both are ranked in the top 60? That puts them at an unfair disadvantage compared to the others in the MD. But I'll stop beating this dead horse.

R404 there's no official rule but it seems to be customary. Unless you're a superstar who's returning from a long layoff, you only get 1 not both.

[quote] Unless you're a superstar who's returning from a long layoff,

How about having a baby or taking an involuntary vacation related to a heart condition?

SF set. Svitolina vs. Andreescu and now Bencic vs. Kerber

when's the last time a big tournament had no women in the SF who were over 6' tall? Svitolina and Bencic are listed as 5'9. Kerber 5'8 and Andreescu 5'7

Monfils withdraws?? Wtf?

left Achilles heel pain. I knew he'd get injured at some point. It's a shame as he was playing so damn well. It's his desire to chase down impossible balls though that keeps leading to his injuries

so Thiem gets a walkover and will face Raonic in the SF

Granny Vee was basically on one leg, had a clear elbow injury, and still nearly got the better of Kerber... the German (read: Pole) will have to improve tenfold to have a chance against a hot Bencic. They both play kind of similar so should be interesting watch.

I've never seen something like that, Gael personally coming out and apologising to the crowd for retiring. What a shame because he was in really strong form.

The possibility of a GEMS LIFE double is out then. Swiss Double and Canadian Double still in play.

[quote] so Thiem gets a walkover and will face Raonic in the SF

Thiem team or porcine Raonic team?

[quote] I've never seen something like that, Gael personally coming out and apologising to the crowd for retiring

Did he rap his apology?

[quote] The possibility of a GEMS LIFE double is out then. Swiss Double and Canadian Double still in play.

How about a Sunshine Double?

R416 it's happened a few times with other players. They do it when it's announced last minute. No one knew it was coming as commentators were ready to announce the match

Was there booing and hate speech? IW does not like a late withdrawal...so I've heard.

Granny V hit 41 winners in a two set match and lost both sets!

That's what happens when your movement is compromised!

R421 the IW crowds these days have really improved. They were politely applauding and appreciated he spoke to them on court

Venus had the right idea today as she was mixing in high looping balls which Kerber hates. If she didn't have a nagging knee and elbow issue, she probably would have won today. Backing Kerber up with loop balls, get a weak reply and then smack a winner was working for her tonight.

I think Bencic will destroy Kerber if both play the way they did today

At least Thiem should have the decency to moon his ass to the crowd now that their money on the ticket has wasted. That would not have recovered their loss but at least they would have got some worth of their money.

Miami update: OUT: Kohlschreiber

IN: Tomic

Next: Humbert

Humbert

I wonder if Federer and Nadal will get much of a test tomorrow...

Gramps has an 11 am start tomorrow. We might see Crankerer tomorrow.

r413 Don't think there are that many female tennis players over 6' and also at 6', if they are listed as that, it is probably false, Americans like to lie about this and in general a lot.

Zzzzz--with Monfils defaulting we're stuck very likely with a Fedal/Raonic/Thiem semifinal slate. Could it get much duller?

James Blake did even bother to give wild card draw for qualifying to Marcos Giron. He is the second most useless tournament director after that US open director. I forgot her name. She recently left, I think

And what do those two tournament directors have in common, eh ESL?

That would be Katrina "Serena Stan" Adams, R433.

And who are we to quibble about IMG's WC choices? The sages on this board have already enlightened us about how Tseng, Eubanks and Kuhn are infinitely better for direct entry into the main draw than Djere, FAA or Giron would be...Along those lines perhaps IMG's next WC entry will be Mark Riddell.

Sorry I meant, Blake did NOT give qualifying wild card to Giron.

Katrina Adams was pathetic. Just googled her and found that she has been replaced by Patrick Galbraith.

I had almost forgotten him. Saw him almost 26 years ago playing doubles US open with Richey Renberg.

Why USTA do not nominate well-known players as their tournament director? Richard Krajicek has been tournament director for ABN Amro Rotterdam forever. Michael Stich has been the tournament director for Hamburg tennis forever And these are only ATP500 tournaments. Rober Soldering and Thomas Enquist have worked as a part-time director in Swedish indoor tennis. There are many more examples like this

Are Sampras, Agassi, Chang, Todd Martin, Andy Roddick too rich to do these jobs?

R435: Nobody said that they were better wc, what i said is that there's nothing wrong in those wc.

WC on big tournaments never go to players who are 60-80, unless they are from the host country, young promising players or top players who came from an injury. And i repeat, Felix received a good bunch of wc, so he has absolutely nothing to complain.

And Djere is not the kind of player who receives wc at this type of event. He has potential. he was a top junior, but there was no buzz around him, he is 23 and started the season at 92, his recent rise is a surprise.

All the three players you mentioned lost on third round on IW, so they are doing well but they are not on the verge of becoming top players.

Giron should receive a qualifying wc, he seems to be on good form and it would be a pity not profit of that

[quote] Saw him almost 26 years ago playing doubles US open with Richey Renberg.

Now that’s a name I have not heard in a long time. A long time.

[quote] Are Sampras, Agassi, Chang, Todd Martin, Andy Roddick too rich to do these jobs?

Martin is the head of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Roddick is too busy with his duties as a member of said Hall of Fame.

Oh please, R437--as if Eubanks (almost 23 and yet to crack the top 150) and Tseng (currently # 449) have the buzz to sustain MD WC entry. Can you say IMG clients over more deserving recipients? If less deserving WCs are chosen, then there IS something wrong with the system.

James Blake was unable to stop the threats of violence which were hurled towards 10 years old kids who just happened to be relatives of Caroline Woz 's fiance,

What’s going on here?

There are a lot of people for an 11 AM match, That is the power of Elderer

I wonder if Roger's friend Bradley Cooper will show up for a finals match?

Either Titsy and Osaka are really dating or some Wills and Grace is going on between those two.

Bradley 15 mins are over

[quote] Either Titsy and Osaka are really dating

M. Osaka or N. Osaka?

R440: Are you kidding me? Right now players who are starting have to endure the stupid transition tour that seems designed to keep poor players out of the elite. Not precocious players (and right now most players peak later in their career) are going to struggle to make a living of tennis.

Giving some wc to img players is hardly an outrage. And i repeat, Tseng is a former junior number one, he has the best junior career since Monfils, i don't think there's nothing wrong with his wc no matter what's his ranking right now

R445: There's nothing like a couple of gay rumours on DL to make a tennis player find a girlfriend. He is two steps from making cheesy videos with a girlfriend Sascha's style

N. Osaka

No, R448, I'm not, though I'd hardly call it an outrage--just ho-hum nauseating status quo. Tseng's results this year have been sad, and FAA and Shapo were ranked far higher when they were Tseng's age. And I'm still waiting for a less than nonsensical explanation for why Eubanks got a MD WC.

Having a high ranking at a young age means absolutely nothing. Hewitt had a better ranking than Federer during the first years of their career.

And Felix is not only talented but a big guy, he has a big serve (the main flaw in Tseng's game) which is a big advantage to get a better ranking at a young age.

Most young players stall for a good while, Felix, Rudd and Kecmanovic did it at the verge of top 100, but other's have more problems to get there.

Tseng is going to receive wc to the qualification of Roland Garros and Wimbledon because he is the junior champ.

I don't have an explanation for Eubanks (in my opinion Tseng and Kuhn are very obvious, they are talented juniors who sign with IMG), i suppose there this type of random wc at every tournament. In Madrid a good bunch of romanian players receive wc just because it's owned by Tiriac, some are good some are pretty bad

Eubanks had a great college tennis career and decided to go pro in October of 2017 so I'd give him a couple years to see if he develops further.

Collins went pro in mid 2016 and started her big rise in 2018

Well Hurkacz put in a decent performance but Fed won 6-4 6-4

I hope Khachanov can at least win a set

[quote] Collins went pro in mid 2016 and started her big rise in 2018

And nothing but winning and winnng. You better get used to it!

Karen Hemsworth

I don't know that Hewitt is the best example of "absolutely nothing", R452, unless you consider 3 GS championships plus being the youngest player ever to reach the # 1 ranking to be nothing.

R457: Stop putting words in my mouth. What i said is that Hewitt was way higher in the rankings than Federer at the start of their careers but Federer ending with a way better career. What i wanted to say, and i thought it was pretty clear, is that getting very high on the rankings very young doesn't mean you are going to have a better career. So Tseng being low in the rankings (and he is the player born in 2001 with a better ranking) means nothing. Specially when at that age a couple of wc on a home country tournament can mean a huge difference in the rankings

Hewitt is the best example of "everything" if you consider that peculiar detail of his anatomy.

yeah some players peak at different times. Hingis and Hewitt peaked early in their careers. Then you have a Wawrinka who didn't become a factor until his mid-late 20s. Same with Stosur for a few years

Actually I was quoting you directly, R458, but I get your drift. Regardless, I still think that Djere and FAA should have been granted wild cards given how much they've achieved in the last six weeks and despite the supposed tradition of either granting wild cards to IW or Miami, but not both.

Interesting comment at the link about how the MO "tends to have contrarian wild card choices that usually go to players represented by IMG". Obviously WC snubs are an IMG tradition.

Also, R460, Anderson who didn't reach a steady run in the top 10 until he was 31.

Ohh come on guys stop arguing for so long for this pity thing. I really hate to play hall monitor but even Djere , Tsonga and FCC are over this wild fiasco. It is done.

Thanks, R427! No doubt Bernie will make the most of this exciting opportunity!

PCB has also withdrawn from Miami :( along with Nishioka. Gross Gulbis and Thomas Fabbiano are their replacements.

Khachanov really tried it, but it was obvious that he was going to lose the first set. At least he is giving a fight but i still think he will be the new Berdych or if he is lucky the new Cilic

I really like Khachanov's game and he played such a solid first set against Nadal, but then those loose points in the tiebreaker really did him in. I hope he can regroup in the second set.

Khachanov was up a break. Then I check back a while later and he's lost the first set in a tiebreak. Can't any of these young guys ever beat Nadal? If Nole goes on another mental walkabout for a few months, Nadal could win the next three Slams. Maybe Federer can stop Nadal in the semis, but I haven't seen Roger play yet at IW.

I wouldn't mind a bit if Karen sent Rafa home...... It won't happen, but maybe it will keep Rafa awake a few extras minutes.

Zzzzzz

I'm surprised didn't unwrap that bandage and rewrap it himself.

Isner, Delpo and PCB are going to lose a ton of points after Miami.

[quote] Zzzzzz

Z. Zverev

Mohamed Lahyani is kinda sexy, no?

He's my fave.

Khachanov is a good player but his forehand grip will get him into trouble against the best of the best, just like Wawrinka. Khachanov has a lot of trouble if you hit a super low ball to his forehand

Khachanov can't even beat a hobbled Nadal. I have no faith in the younger players. Nadal, Federer and Djokovic will be Grand Slam champions in their 60s.

Coric has beaten Nadal but Nadal was injured in 1 of those matches and terrible form in the other

So clearly Federer will double bagel an injured Nadal and then win the final over Raonic/Thiem

Then I'm guessing Djokovic will rediscover his form and win Miami

the Big 3 aren't going away and no one seems to be able to stop them except for injuries which is embarrassing

Rafa finds the win! Rafa!

I'm presuming those exclamation points are tongue in cheek.

[quote] I'm presuming those exclamation points are tongue in cheek.

Where are the upside down exclamation points?

[quote]Khachanov is a good player but his forehand grip will get him into trouble against the best of the best, just like Wawrinka. Khachanov has a lot of trouble if you hit a super low ball to his forehand.

Is his grip a very extreme Western grip?

Rafa again complaining about playing on hard courts. Says it destroys bodies. Does anyone else complain about this issue?

Rafa is seriously injured again. He plans on playing the SF tomorrow but Miami is probably a NO.

No cause it doesnt. His style of play along with how long he has played is destroying his body.

Rafa says a new, softer surface needs to be developed to replace hard courts. Good luck with that.

[quote] Rafa says a new, softer surface needs to be developed to replace hard courts

Let me guess - clay?

R483 yes extreme western grip.

well the answer could be to speed up the hardcourts but Nadal wouldn't like that either with his style of play

The Boobs Out duo has fortunately deflated.

No one is forcing Rafa to play hard courts. If he doesn't want to do so, skip the tournament.

He will now forever be known as “boobs out proponent Fabio Fognini“.

In Fabio Fognini's case its "MOOBS OUT"

I had a feeling that Svitolina would be the perfect antidote to Andreescu's game.

Spoke too soon. She's decided to give it right back.

why doesnt Svitolina display this kind of grit and determination in Grand Slams?

Phoenix Challenger QF

No. 168 Caruso d. Goffin 26 63 62

Karen K totally ruined his career by marrying in his teens and becoming a teen dad just like Taylor Fritz. Both are doomed

Svitolina is so basic. She's hit 12 winners in 26 games so far that's less than 0.5 winners per game.

[quote] Svitolina is so basic.

M. Basic?

Svitolina is like a cockroach. Besides her scrambling to get balls back that is the only real impressive thing about her. She rarely doesnt try. Something Sloane and Keys could learn from.

Andreescu can hit the ball hard.

Lousy handshake from Svitolina. She only hit 14 winners the whole match!

Yeah I don't find Svitolina to be that impressive except for her doggedness and determination. Sweet backhand but her serve and forehand are just meh.

Andreescu has an impressive game except her serve can be attacked by a good returner. She's got a good shot at winning the title against either Bencic or Kerber as neither is a big hitter.

I wonder what Genie Bouchard thinks about her. She is not even Canada no .1 anymore

Peak Kerber reappears only rarely these days but how nice is Angie's game when she cares.

I'm surprised. Coming into the match I thought Bencic was going to win but Kerber was very solid today and was able to grind out points.

Gonna be an interesting final

When's he coming out?

R506- It's karma for Bouchard. Ever since she refused to shake the hand of her opponent at the pre-match ceremony of some tournament, it's been downhill all the way for her.

R509 interesting as Michael B Jordan is Naomi's celeb crush

R510 It was Fed Cup where she refused that handshake, in such a rude and entitled way too ("i'll pass").. Barbie Strycova would have slapped the shit out of her.

Camila Giorgi got her back though. The only one with a worse handshake than Bouchard's is Yulia Putintseva. Actually for such an experienced and successful player Kerber's is pretty awful when she loses too (most of the time).

Anyone know when the Miami main draw comes out?

[quote]Yeah I don't find Svitolina to be that impressive except for her doggedness and determination. Sweet backhand but her serve and forehand are just meh.

Basically Jankovic without the personality.

I never had any strong feelings for or against Svitolina until her and Monfils unleashed GEMS LIFE and it made me wish both of them serious harm.

I do so hope that Mrs. Janice Towsend does not advance to meet Miss Joyce Barclay at the London Bio Strath Championships.

R515 are you the one that called the police on them this week? Apparently they held them up with guns and searched the room and everything.

R484: The problem Rafa has with hard court is his weight, he has way more mucle than anyone else. He has the same height Federer has but he is 15 kilos heavier. And during good part of his career he played too defensively and a lot of tournaments. He had injuries from the very beginning so it's obvious that his body is going to put a stop to his career

[quote] it's obvious that his body is going to put a stop to his career

Not likely.

why not have a indoor carpet season like they used to back in the day (70s/80s)? you know during WINTER! all indian wells and miami is a money grab for all involved... wouldn't a soft indoor carpet surface and indoors be kinder on the bodies? you want to have indian wells or miami tournament? have it or one of them part of the summer hard court season leading up to the open..

WTF is GEMs Life?

Well Nadal has zero chances of winning a title on indoor carpet (he was very lucky they don't play on that surface anymore), he really sucked on that surface. Anyway, it was very boring with big serves, ace after ace after ace. I prefer slower courts

R521 It's the most embarrassing thing ever to happen to social media.

It's Gael Monfils and Elina Svitolina's joint instagram account. Just the name of it alone makes me break out in a rash.

R523: Even more than Sascha's video with his girlfriend after losing in the Australian Open?

#522, not all indoor carpets are faster then faster surface.. they CAN BE slowed down (extra fuzz on the carpet) and they would still be gentler and kinder on the bodies...

r520 The women would love that.

It's actually not bad as these social media things go, R523. What do you find to be so embarrassing about it, R523, other than the entire concept of people publicizing their lives? I've linked it for your viewing pleasure.

Er...

If there was a grand slam tournament on carpet, Isner would be ranked in the likes of Agassi and Connors with 7 grand slams! Dr. Ivo would come close and would still be a contender for the title at the ripe age of 40.

#529.. no one is saying a grand slam should be on carpet.. but the fact that NOT A SINGLE tournament is played on carpet indoors is actually pretty shocking... but then you have the men and women all year long complaining of injury, wear and tear on the bodies, the season is too long and so on and so on..as i stated before, indoor carpets can be made slower.... another fault lies in the technology of today's strings and rackets!.... something is wrong here if a 12 year old today with today's rackets and strings can hit the ball harder and with more spin then a pro male or female tennis player back in the 70's!... technology should have stayed and ended with 1980's strings and rackets and basic graphite compositions...

They complain of a long season, but have no qualms about taking $$$ for exhibition matches

There is one tournament on carpet. The WTA event in Quebec, and it's refreshing every year to see the difference in surface even if it sadly doesn't attract many top players (fast courts, different to move on but you can still slide, high bouncing and fun to play on). We barely even have any grass tournaments any more, the whole tour is clay and slow hard.... and the reason is because the pushers like Nadal and Djokovic actively campaign for it and it's sometimes one of the terms in their appearance contract at a smaller tournament (eg. i'll come if you make the surface ideal for me!).

Nobody likes Isner's servebotting but I also don't want to watch 25 shot rallies where nobody has the gall to pull the trigger, eventually ending in a tepid unforced error. If today's match between Andreescu and Svitolina were on carpet it would have been more about great shotmaking than who can get one more ball back... over and over again, for hours and hours (yawn).

I remember Tsonga was one of the players who criticised the surface homogenisation and protested the removal of carpet tournaments. And it's not like it's ONLY big servers who have success on carpet. Crafty players like Marcelos Rios have won multiple carpet titles... the Quebec winners include variety girls like Kirsten Flipkens and Barbora Strycova. Again, you can still have slower carpet courts.

Roger, Serena and Venus would have won tons of indoor carpet events. Roger especially. The women used to play on sportface, then the faster sporteze which was a 70's retaliation against women having to play Chrissie Evert on clay. The entire Winter/Spring circuit for the women went indoors. The men on the old WCT tour played a lot on supreme court which was rubbery and slower. It helped big topspin guys like Borg and Vilas.

....

[quote] The WTA event in Quebec

Is this where we talk about it?

I prefer seeing tennis on natural surfaces - clay and grass.

I hate indoor tennis.

Rafa unlikely to play today.

Does Domi has got what it takes to defeat Botonic?

I think Rafa would have said so already if he was pulling out.

Rafa officially out.

Just announced on ABC coverage.

Amazon Prime also confirming Rafa has pulled out.

He does pull out.

Was Fed sporting pigtails or a misbegotten mullet back in 2004?

Great news - one less time I have to see that ugly mug. Whew! Poor guy is lucky he can play tennis.

Do the IW crowd pay for tickets by the match or would this same crowd have also been there for the Fed/Nadal match?

Would be amusing if they all got up and left now.

poor poor rafa, how long before his "ahem" cough cough injury does a miraculous recovery and he starts winning clay tournament after clay tournament after clay tournament! personally I think didn't want to play fed and lose for the 6th time in a row.. rafa is now on purpose ducking fed to keep the head to head number edge.. i mean they haven't played each other since the fall of 2017?!...

has rafa ever been tested for growth hormone or e.p.o.? i refuse to believe he is in THAT MUCH better condition to continue to beat guys in their early 20's on clay, the most taxing, winded, grueling surface... i mean what is rafa going to be 40, 45, still winning the french and all the other warm-up tournaments? ridiculous and shame on the new guard!....

R539: Raonic is only in semis because Giron choked, so yes, Thiem could defeat him even (and should do it)

wow the ATP IS SO COMPELLING RIGHT NOW! First Monfils withdrew and now Nadal!!!

There's an interesting debate going on on twitter that's suggesting Khachenov should be allowed to move into Nadal's place and play Federer, almost like a Lucky Loser, since Nadal pulled out before the match was played.

Strategy by Nadal. He fears playing Fed 2 of 3 on hard and since he did not play IW last year he gains those semi points. Fed won't get bonus points for the walkover since he and Rafa didn't actually play.

R551: Khachanov lost and he is eliminated. LL is only for qualifications it would be absurd if players were able to pass rounds just because the one who eliminated them withdraw in the next round.

The truth is Nadal was clearly injured in the second set and Khachanov was unable to win

R548 stole my post

Thiem team...one set down.

To be fair, Rafa rarely is really challenged at the French Open. The conditions of the tournament are perfect for him and most players are simply too intimidated. He only needs to start the match well and his rival ends quitting. And generally he reach the final with a lot less time on court than his rival.

What i find surprising it's not that Rafa, Nole and Federer continued to win but the fact that they do it without too much opposition

and of course Thiem and Raonic have gone 3 sets after 2 long tiebreak sets.

Just hand the title to Federer

If Raonic wins today, he'll be pooped. Thiem is much fitter and it probably wouldn't be a problem but he's working harder to win points in this match

Thanks R557 - I didn't realize it was on NETWORK tv.

Raonic got so lucky with that netcord in the TB. I'm guessing this third set will go to a TB too... sigh. Wrap this up for Gramps and Mangie Kerber and bring on Miami.

Bring back wood courts! Women could need wood for a change.

R558 the odd thing is the SF are on ABC today but both finals are back on ESPN tomorrow. Not sure why they do that. This was obviously scheduled way before anyone thought Federer and Nadal might play each other

They won't even wrap their hands around it any more, R560.

Please don't screw this up, Domi. Please!

Party at my home for all you guys

R561 College basketball conference tournaments are on both ESPN channels all day today. There aren't as many games tomorrow, so room for tennis in their lineup.

If Thiem has a good day it will be a good final

Nadal confirms that he won’t play Miami as well. Back in Monte Carlo.

LOL Commentator said Domi had Roger on the grass twice......the mental picture is boggling.

aww...Domi wrote "Play for the ocean" on the camera. Clearly he meant he wants to swim in my ocean

Domi was very, very good today. Glad he won.

As a consolation to fans disappointed with Rafa's withdrawal, Djokovic is playing doubles with Pete Sampras against John McEnroe and Tommy Haas.

R571 I think that's good tournament management right there. Imagine the quick thinking involved to get everyone to say Yes. I think Tommy Haas as the tournament director made it happen. Good thing Pete has been there all week. They should have enlisted Bill Gates and Ben Stiller who were also there.

Not sure why Nadal doesn't just sit out the post-Australian/pre-European clay season at this point, much like Federer has skipped the last couple of clay seasons. It's not like his legacy is going to be enhanced by winning IW or Miami. He's not likely to recapture #1 and not sure why that would even be a goal now. For all the Big 3, it's about how many more Grand Slam titles they can rack up So I am surprised that they all don't do whatever they can just to put themselves in that position. What are they going to lose? $20,000 in fines to skip these "mandatory" events? That's not going to matter to them. I think they've paid their dues and they can cut back their schedules if they want. It's not their fault that the following generation hasn't made enough of a splash to help carry the tour.

r573, follow the money. He made serious coin getting to the quarters. Legacy be damned at this point, like all of them. Expenses gotta get paid ....

JMG and Coco

Miami update:

OUT: Nadal

IN: Humbert

Next: Klahn

[quote]JMG and Coco

One of the comments is "new couple alert!" lol

Sorry if this has been discussed before, but I find it hard to believe that JMG is such good friends with Coco.

R578 I think it was just a pic that benefitted both of them. Both are trying to raise their profiles. JMG is still very active in tennis circles and Coco's career ain't going nowhere atm.

Gambill used to coach her.

Thanks, r580, I did not know that.

Just because a woman acts like a cunt doesn't mean a gay man won't be friends with her. But damn, CuntCunt looks like a flabby frau. Get in the gym CC!

R578: Maybe Coco is not as bad as she seems

Nadal will never renounce to play a GS is he is healthy. Unlike Roger at RG Nadal has always chances to win. Maybe he sucked at Wimbledon for years, but suddenly he gets into second week and he became a favourite. Djokovic had a lot of trouble to stop him at semis last year, and if he reach the final he can defeat anyone on a good day

I guess the finals are on at 4 p.m. EST on ESPN2.....if I am reading correctly.

Correct.

Thank you!

Are you on Gramps team or Thiem team?

Thiem team, but fully expecting a drubbing from Gramps, alas.

Same here R589, But we still got time. If someone makes a new thread and put Gramps photo in OP then DL jinx may stop Gramps

Miami update:

OUT: Verdasco

IN: Klahn

Next: Tipsarevic

[quote] If someone makes a new thread and put Gramps photo in OP then DL jinx may stop Gramps

As you wish, R590. Here's the new thread with a special treat:

Thanks R592

Thiem team. Is there going to be anyone left to go to Miami?

Thiem team.

Gramps and Thiem apparently, R594.

Nole.

I'll be there.

Well, they haven't made it through today yet, R596.

I hope Thiem at least makes Federer work for it.

I think Kerber vs. Andreescu will be close

Puig!

Equine Angie!