The Gays and Tennis 37: Wang v. Wang Miami Open Edition Continue

Hey Op, That is mean thing to do. I know you are pissed at him because he is trying to beard up with Naomi [I am disappointed too]but this doesn't deserve a DL curse especially when he had a great chance to do well in Miami

He deserves a DL curse until he cuts his stupid hair.

OH come on, Tipsy doesn't deserve to be sabotaged lilke that

why are you trying to jinx Stefanos? It should be Isner, Federer or Djokovic

I like his '70s throwback look. And if you are good enough, you can survive the DL curse.

As as Australian, please tell me that Nick Kyrios' tantrums and displays of bad sportperson's behaviour is not reported elsewhere....

In the US, we all know he is scum, R6.

Kim Clijsters' signature shot, the split, improved significantly while she was with Heyton. She needed it on-court and off-court. That's the only way she could accommodate his, er, physicality.

Hewitt and Clijsters were the weirdest couple. She probably weighed more than he did and she's nice while he's an asshole

Wow. Bad loss by DL fave Danielle Collins!

Thanks to Nick this American learned a new word, R6.

Never heard that Hewitt had a big wang. Is there a good source?

Only breaks so far in the Venus vs Kasatkina match.

HH or FCC?

Rooting for FAA though I like them both.

OP, thanks for the gorgeous pic of my favorite guy right now! He is super hot!!!

R16=petros T

Damn you, OP! We needed Djokovic on the cover, not the Tsitsi the Greek!!!

Yes, Djokovic on the next one, please!

Tsitsy just won his doubles match with Wesley Koolhof (against J. Murray/Soares) so the jinx hasn't affected him yet ;)

Umm.. Djokovic was on the Aussie thread and won. He wasn't on Indian Wells, and lost 2R.

Who is in OP's photo?

R22 DL icon Stefanos Tsitsipas

Tsitsy has beautiful nipples.

Titsy, bitches!

I can't believe you didn't try jinx that limp-dicked giant John Isner instead... I will burn the Dolphins stadium down if he wins another Miami title.

Old, crippled Venus (bandaged from head to toe) just beat Kasatkina 6-3, 6-1. Kasatkina didn't hold serve once in the entire match. Venus was smiling the whole match, she looks shocked to be beating so many players in this condition.

Halep survives a scare against LL Polona Hercog, who was outplaying her until the 2nd set tiebreak (which Halep won on her errors). In the 3rd set, Hercog ran out of gas.

Putin defeats #11 seed Sevastova in 3 tight sets. Lives to see another day and another bad handshake most likely.

Vondrousova defeats #16 seed, Doha champion Elise Mertens. Having a really good run after already going deep in Indian Wells. Could be the next big Czech star after Barbie, Kvitova and the Pliskovas retire.

That Polish boy Hurkacz is on right now against FAA. You know that cock has got to be enormous.

I'll be very surprised if Edmund is able to defeat Isner. I didn't see his match today but I'm surprised he beat Raonic. Last time I saw Edmund play, he didn't have that great of a return-of-serve.

FAA!!!

yay for FAA. Such a breath of fresh air to see a #NextGen guy doing well

[quote] Damn you, OP! We needed Djokovic on the cover, not the Tsitsi the Greek!!!

[quote] Umm.. Djokovic was on the Aussie thread and won. He wasn't on Indian Wells, and lost 2R.

Correct. I used a concentration camp victim pic of Djokovic a few weeks ago, and he still won. The so-called jinx is meaningless, which is why I put Titsy on this thread. I like him despite some recent missteps. If I believed in it, I'd have put Isner. I can't stand him, but because of that, I also couldn't stand looking at a picture of him for a couple of weeks while this thread is active.

Tennis DL - dipping into thread here - haven't followed since AO - how's hot Rafa looking heading towards FO - any insights please? Would love a brief wrap-up on Rafa if you've half a mind to.

News flash, R32, Rafa's not around. He won't be back until Monte Carlo a few weeks from now, presuming his knee is up to it.

Delbo team

I'm surprised Djokovic has had so much trouble today

Boobs out!

Beekeeper Djokocvic

Is the Volvo car open?

omg never seen Sloane smash and break her racket before

Thanks R33!

I'm worried for my boy now = GOAT stats.

Told you I was hardcore.

As athletic as Sloane is she plays very lazily often.

elder DLers in this thread, what was Kathy Rinaldi like as a player? She's now Fed Cup captain and Sloane's temp coach.

Thiem needs to get back with his man

What does this mean

Sloane is playing worse than Muguruza did against Niculescu

truly pathetic tonight

r45, it rightfully means that the phrase "that's so gay" is demeaning and completely out of place in any conversation. Good on him!

Watching all the top women implode must be a great incentive to Venus to stay in the game....i think she knows at her prime she would be rolling over Halep, Wozniacki, Kerber.

Sloane walking the plank.

Coric turns turtle in the first set against Monsieur Chardy

Granny Venus is out there playing her heart out with one working leg and a half functioning shoulder. And all these healthy girls just give up right away or play like lazy bums.

Thank god for the world-feeds with great commentary.

What is wrong with S Stephens?

I always have to mute the commentators on TennisTV, non-stop yapping from too many of them. I actually prefer the Tennis Channel crew. And when I had WTA subscription everyone sounded so bored.

Except Gimelstob and sometimes Courier. Hopefully Gimelstob never comes back.

R53: No coach off the court and apparently no strategy when on the court. She's always been streaky and now she's on a very bad one and therefore has little confidence. She doesn't move her feet and walks to balls leading to shanks and ugly misses. Her serve has nothing on it anymore.

Half of the points Maria won tonight were off of open court, put-away errors by Stephens. It was as horrible as her loss to Voegele at Indian Wells.

We did see she cares though as she was visibly and verbally angry at herself.

God, I HATE Kyrgios. Low life scum. Just had a guy kicked out of the expensive seats after jawing with him. Hope he chokes. Literally.

R58, Kyrgios probably lives for hate and mayhem.

R43, Rinaldi had a solid but unspectacular career. She broke through when it was common for teenagers to do so and she hung around for probably about a decade in the #10-#20 ranking range. At least that's my recollection without checking Wikipedia. I can't remember any signature wins and she never came close to a grand slam title. Of course that was the Navratilova & Evert era. Anything they didn't win was won by Mandlikova. Austin had already been sidelined by the time Rinaldi emerged. She was a baseliner in the Evert mode and most of her success would have been on clay.

Kyrgios hitting underarm aces!

Mostly Aussie commentary on the world feed, they know their stuff and are not afraid of dead-air. Not really any nonsense yapping. And a bit of subtle witty humour for the win!

Rinaldi was a middling player. A journeywoman for sure. Though she did have one inexplicable win over Graf. Not even sure how that happened. Stabbi must have had the flu that day.

I know this may be unpopular, as I used to not hold this opinion — but I’m starting to appreciate Nick kyrgios and his unapologetic behavior. It really makes tennis entertaining and he has no problem owning every bit of who he is - even the part that everyone gets on him about not living up to his talent, he doesn’t take tennis seriously, etc. And, as I believe tennis is mostly a mental sport once you reach the level of the ATP, this adds another element to that - ie opponents being offended they’ve been underhand served.

Ted Robinson sounds out of touch bitching about it.

Also - Kyrgios must have a huge dong. You don’t get that kind of hubris without possessing a massive tool.

Peak Kyrgios is scary good.

That would be the only acceptable excuse for the lack of blood flow to Krygios' brain, R64.

Yeah, I have a bit of a soft spot for Kyrgios. He seems like that hotheaded friend who you're always having to watch/feel embarrassed for.

I'm just waiting for FAA to overtake the boring, injury-prone Raonic and the erratic, dim Shapo as the highest ranked Canadian player. Plus he's super cute.

If you could distill the heart and soul and limited intellect of “Trump’s base” into a single, high-performing athlete, you’d have Nick Kyrgios. Every goober in that audience cheering him on tonight seemed to have driven there straight from Mar a Lago. I was surprised he didn’t lead them into a “lock her up” chant.

I dislike Kyrgios intensely because he's so full of himself, but he's no Trumpster. He does have that hyperbole and similar synapse failure on occasion though.

Same here, R67--FAA has all of the ingredients for a Wheaties box kind of champion: phenomenal talent, brains, ambition, discipline, presence of mind, looks, humor and humility. Once he becomes more consistent and patient enough to make the effective shot over the flashy one, we'll see him win multiple Slams.

Yes I think FAA will surprise us in the upcoming clay court season with some big wins over quality players.

FAA: also, great abs.

Kyrgios is an ass, but he seems to mostly not punch downward. He's a class clown, not a bully.

Kyrgios is not a Trumper at all as R69 show. Lord almighty. I bet Isner, his friend, was triggered by that shirt.

Lajovic has beautiful pale Siberian Husky eyes.

[quote]Rinaldi had a solid but unspectacular career. She broke through when it was common for teenagers to do so and she hung around for probably about a decade in the #10-#20 ranking range. At least that's my recollection without checking Wikipedia. I can't remember any signature wins and she never came close to a grand slam title. Of course that was the Navratilova & Evert era. Anything they didn't win was won by Mandlikova. Austin had already been sidelined by the time Rinaldi emerged. She was a baseliner in the Evert mode and most of her success would have been on clay.

Just some additional information. Rinaldi made her Grand Slam debut at the '81 French. Just 14 years old at the time, she reached the QF. Then followed that up becoming the youngest player to ever win a match at Wimbledon in '81. So she was definitely noticed at that age. She spent most of the next few years ranked in the teens, reaching 3R or 4R at the majors. She had an off year in '84, and dropped out of the top 20, but surprised everyone by reaching the Wimbledon SF in 1985 at age 18. This was the era where most people winning at Wimbledon were the serve/volleyers, something Rinaldi decidedly was not.

The big Wimbledon result pushed her into the Top Ten, and she returned to the French Open QF in '86, where she played a close match against Martina. She was Top Ten for most of the next year, but after the '87 French, she fell and injured her wrist. She was out of the game for a while, and when she returned, she was never the same player. She bounced around in the Top 100 for most of her career, but never could achieve the results she had before the injury.

A couple other notes: as a player, she was always very slight and slender. To see her now, more thick and chunky, you wouldn't have thought it, but if you look at old pictures, she was a wisp of a girl.

And I remember a blurb in Tennis magazine after Rinaldi made the Wimbledon Semis. When Tracy Austin, forced out of the game in '82/'83 with injuries, was told that Rinaldi reached the Semis, her response was something along the lines of "I think I'm gonna throw up." I remember that because you *never* hear Tracy make negative comments, but apparently she felt if someone like Rinaldi could make the semis, Tracy would have had all kinds of chances at that event.

R60 and R75 thank you for the insight.

That year Kathy Rinaldi made the Wimbledon SF was the last time all four semi finalists there were American (Kathy, Chrissie, Martina N, Zina G). It happened again at the 2017 US Open (Venus, Sloane, Madison, Coco).

To take it one step further that American domination was even there in the Quarterfinals. Out of the final eight, SEVEN were U.S players. The eighth was Czech Helena Sukova, who Kathy Rinaldi actually defeated.

R51 It's crazy and frustrating to see the difference in effort Venus is putting in compared to the young American stars like Sloane and Coco. It's like night and day. Not only is she old and diseased, but genuinely injured from top to bottom. Yet has been the only U.S player to make the 2nd week in both Indian Wells and Miami.

She's trying to become a DL fave too, at the end of her press conference she discusses her love for the Golden Girls, and says which character she is the most like!

who's FAA?

Ha. R77 I love the idea of tennis legend Venus Williams trying desperately to curry favour with DL as if her legacy depended on it.

FAA is this guy, R78...

Venus and Serena is a movie called The Lady and the Brat. Venus doesn't have to worry about her legacy, here at DL or anywhere else: her legacy has been established a long long time ago. Serena should worry about her legacy now that Margaret Court's 25 count looks a little more unattainable after each grand slam tournament. If she fails to reach it, we can safely say that the baby did her in. Yeah! She had a baby and the baby did her in.

Since she says she's the Dorothy, which WTA players are Blanche, Sophia and Rose?

I enjoy Brett Haber and Paul Annocone. They're the best.

[quote] I love the idea of tennis legend Venus Williams trying desperately to curry favour with DL as if her legacy depended on it.

She doesn’t want to be the thread cover girl.

Young Grigor is having a time of it.

Barty through in 3 over Bertens

Thompson def. continuing flop Dimitrov. I guess 2017 is looking more and more like an aberration rather than a breakout year for him

With her win over Bertens, Barty will likely move ahead of Serena in the rankings and make her top 10 debut after this tournament.

Petra stomping all over Garcia, even though she's in a harder part of the draw I think she looks more likely than Halep to take the #1 ranking (both would have to reach the final). The rain just stopped their match at 6-3 5-2 (Petra about to serve for the match).

RAIN

NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

The sky looks terrible. It's going to be awhile.

Is Jordan Thompson a bogan as well?

This rain is LITERAL VIOLENCE

Jordan Thompson needs to sit on my face.

Dmitrov will kick around a few more years and collect lots of money but yes, I would say 2017 was an aberration.

If Kvitova does grab the #1 ranking, expect to hear the drumbeat about her attaining it without a Grand Slam win, including 3 very early losses. Aren't two of them first round losses? Not a good look although it might be mitigated since she's won in the past, although it has been 5 years.

The Rinaldi talk reminds me that as weak the WTA is supposedly now, it was just as bad if not worse in the '82-'87 era. After Martina and Chris, there wasn't anyone except Hana who could pose a challenge and that was rare. Jaeger was disinterested, Shriver's records against M & C were abysmal, as was Garrison's, and Maleeva, Temesvari and Bassett peaked early and got press but never challenged for big titles.

AH! FAA is adorbs. Very sexy.

matches back on!

[quote] matches back on!

I can live again.

R94 Kvitova has won two majors even though they were a few yrs ago. She also is playing well enough and looks fit enough to have a shot at another one this year. She wouldn't be as random as some have been in the past like Safina or Pliskova.

Kvitova straight sets Garcia

Kvitova vs. Barty next round

Kvitova at her best is unplayable. No-one would begrudge her being No.1, especially since she had to take that time out because of the attack.

She's completely respected among her peers and the general public. She's one of a handful of active female players left who's know to casual fans since she's won Wimbledon.

Andreescu has finally hit a wall.

I think it's a posibility that FAA reach the top 20 before any of the other players born in 2000 reach the top 100 (right now there are only other two players born in 2000 in the top 300).

And he is a big guy, i watched a video of him playing doubles with Nicola Kuhn and Kuhn seemed small by his side and Nico is 6' 1´´ not big but not small either.

It seems a trend between young players to have some really tall guys whose serve is not their main weapon

[quote]Andreescu has finally hit a wall

She just retired...no Sunshine Double for the 'drama queen'!

So does FAA have a large penis like Hewitt?

due to exhaustion or injury? I hope the injury is not serious

I think both but mainly injury -- her shoulder finally won't let her play on.

Andreescu's had a good run and should take at least a few weeks off to rest before the grueling clay season.

Anderson def. Sousa straights

Cutie Joao ☹️

Apparently Andreescu's favourite surface is clay. Could be a worry for the other girls, especially if she gets some much needed rest.

Hsieh Su Wei up a set on Wozniacki but down a break in the second.

The heat rule is currently in effect for all matches. If the match goes to 3 they are allowed to take a 10 minute break after set 2.

Someone at tennis warehouse has titled their thread "Kerb Your Enthusiasm". I object!

Opelka in high asshole mode again reaming out the ref.

Opelka to the ref: "Are you new around here"

Ref: "Yes, I've been in this chair for about five minutes"

I pity the member of Federer's team who draws the short straw and has to wear the Barilla hat.

[quote] pity the member of Federer's team who draws the short straw and has to wear the Barilla hat.

I’ll eat it before anyone will have a chance to wear it.

R111 lol

Go Medvedev

Opelka is funny looking

Hsieh beats Wozniacki. Haha! I love when Wozniacki loses.

R113, that Barilla ad is hilarious. They even have him flirting with the least-attractive-but-still-vaguely-plausible actress they could find.

[quote]Jordan Thompson needs to sit on my face.

No, I need to sit on Jordan’s face.

Halep def. Venus 6-3 6-3 still an impressive run from her since her movement and serve were so compromised

Medvedev def. Opelka in 3 tiebreaks with the third set being 7-0

Halep really raises her level against Venus. You wonder why she doesn't play that aggressively against players like Svitolina and co. Good run for the old girl with all her injuries, she was mummified today. Weirdly more support for Simona than Venus in Miami.

The Hsieh Wozniacki match was a lot of fun, especially to see a likeable player with a fun game defeat the whiny pusher.

If funny looking means ugly then Opelka is funny looking.

Hsieh is 33 and playing the best tennis of her career. She could play 4-5 more years easily.

I always thought Martina N should have stayed on the tour when she retired at 37. She got wild cards into a few tournaments after that and even won some matches

Didn’t M. Navratilova continue to or return to play doubles or was it only M. Hingis who returned?

Lordy! Leonardo Mayer wants to re-think those SEE-THROUGH white shorts next time!

I can't see anything R126

Shapovalov def Rublev in 2

Tiafoe def. Ferrer in 3

Goffin def. Cecchinato in 2

Tsitsipas def. L. Mayer in 2

Petros is not there

[quote] Shapovalov def Rublev in 2

Shopbottom is doing surprisingly well.

Q, Wang def. Y. Wang in 2 tough sets. Unfriendly but full handshake. If they said anything to each other it was very brief.

Pliskova v Putintseva. Battle of the hotties.

Love David Goffin.

[quote]Didn’t M. Navratilova continue to or return to play doubles or was it only M. Hingis who returned?

Yes she kept playing doubles. I remember seeing her in Roland Garros in 2003 with then baby dyke - allegedly - Svetlena Kuznetsova where they lost in the quarter finals. Kuzie was only 18 but she was pinging to high heaven already - allegedly... They both were runner-up at the US Open the same year, which was her last final in women's doubles.

Her last grand slam mixed doubles title came in three years later in 2006 with Bob Bryan at the ripe age of 50. Well, one month short of being 50.

[quote] I remember seeing her in Roland Garros in 2003 with then baby dyke - allegedly - Svetlena Kuznetsova where they lost in the quarter finals. Kuzie was only 18 but she was pinging to high heaven already - allegedly

Allegedly? They all are.

Martina actually came back to play singles in 2004 at the French and Wimbledon. She lost 1R to Dulko at the French on her worst surface. A month later at Wimbledon she almost double bageled some poor South American girl in 1R before losing again to Dulko in three tough sets in 2R. She served and volleyed throughout both matches. The idiots in charge of Wimbledon however didn't even put the match on a show court. But dumped it on court 3 or 4! How fucking stupid and insulting to the tournament's second greatest champion.

She also took Hantuchova to three sets two years earlier at Eastbourne and beat Tatiana Panova, then a top-30 player, a round earlier.

Oh please, that evil coke whore slut deserved it.

[quote] How fucking stupid and insulting to the tournament's second greatest champion.

Helen Wills Moody?

No...Lottie Dod

The girls were so embarrassed to be losing to mid-40s Navratilova. But the old players just find a way, she was still tactically very good and should really have made the 3rd round that Wimbledon. I remember some EPIC matches at Wimbledon and the US Open between Kimiko Date (out of retirement) and Venus, too.

well now it's carried over to the men's tour with several older players still out there. Of course Federer is the king of the oldies as he's top 5 but also we have 40 year old Karlovic who after a couple years of being outside the top 100, is now firmly back in it. Plenty of guys in their 20s still can't handle his monster serve. This unfortunately leads me to believe we'll be seeing Isner stick around for a while longer too unless he loses his serving consistency.

Then we have Lopez and Ferrer. Lopez is what 37 and Ferrer 36? Ferrer just beat A. .Zverev and took Tiafoe to 3 sets tonight.

Titsy!

Hsieh and Kontaveit have played only once before, with Kontaveit winning 6-1, 6-3 on a hardcourt. But that was four years ago, and Hsieh seems to have really found her game recently. Would love to see her win today and make it to the semis.

Basilashvili is one seriously hot bro

BREAKING NEWS!! Wozniacki has released her followup single to the acclaimed worldwide #1, and Grammy award winning hit song "Oxygen".

The track is called "We Love Our Tennis" and is a duet with fellow songstress Aga Radwanska.

THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

lol Edmund served at 5-4 in the first set tiebreak then double faulted (likely due to to the sun glare). Then he misses an easy forehand on the next point and Isner promptly serves it out 7-5.

[quote] THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

Which songs should players sing and release? Andy Murray - “I Am Not Miserable”.

Really impressed with FCC . Its not like Nikko Basil played a very bad match. FCC was impressive from start to finish

FAA through 7-6 6-4 over Basilashvili !

R130: Well, there was nothing surprising in Shapo defeating Rublev, Shapo is irregular but Rublev seem unable to not hit every ball (with disastrous consecuences half of the time). He has an amazing forehand but he needs more variety in his game. Of course he is recovering from injury and on the top 100 again, so not bad tournament for him.

My problem with Shapo is that i can't see progression in him. He has spectacular groundstrokes, he is a very entertainning player to watch, but he is as inconsistent as he used to be. If he were able to improve that, he will be a top player soon, but i'm not sure he'll be able to do it.

His match against Tsitsipas will be interesting, Stefanos is someone who did that transition way faster even when he was less precocious than Shapo

Are you acronym challenged, R148?

As i say, i think Felix will be top 20 before Molleker or Kuhn reach top 100.

I know he has an advantage that he is a big and strong guy (other talented juniors have that burden when they start to play the pro tour) but he is having a very impressive run after a bad start of the year

Kuhn died last week on the court anyway

R153: He resurrected the following day on twitter saying he is ok. He will receive a couple of wc on Barcelona and Madrid and probably will be on the qualification of the US Open. He has nothing to defend till the end of the season because he was injured last year just when he reached top 200

[quote]My problem with Shapo is that I can't see progression in him.

I agree. In fact, at times it seems like he's regressing. Sometimes I really wonder if players like him have any kind of game plan before they step on the court.

Edmund flopped even despite Isner getting back treatment in the first set. 2 tiebreak win

happy for FAA though I like Basilashvili too

The Shapo game plan...

Dan Evans is going to cover Just Say No! by the cast of BBC's Grange Hill.

FCC is now 4-0 vs Top 20 players in his career.

Has anyone noticed the 50 year old ball boy?

Would you care to enlighten us as to the identify of FCC, R159?

The Federal Clown Commission?

I think Shapo is trying to reign himself in and be more patient. At 19, he's a quite amazing, but will need more time than FAA to bring maturity to his game. Everybody has their own path.

That said, Shapo always has potential to disrupt any bracket.

Kontaveit just defeated Hsieh to make the SF.

Su-Wei led 4-0 in the final set (with Kontaveit just having won 3 points). She almost ended up holding for 5-0 too, but choked it away unfortunately.

Su-Wei just seemed dead-tired at the end, Kontaveit was visibly nervous when serving to stay in the match but Hsieh wasn't able to take advantage and fell away herself after that.

Hseih must have been so disappointed for letting that match slip away after having the lead in the 3rd set, but she gave Kontaveit such a sweet, genuine hug to congratulate her at the end. Count me as a big fan. Now, if only Hsieh could improve her serve, especially that ghastly second serve.

[quote] I think Shapo is trying to reign himself in and be more patient

King Shapo I, the Shopbottom

R166 and R167 I think she must have been exhausted, mentally and physically. Long arduous matches against Osaka and Wozniacki, plus she still has to go and play doubles today.

She's a little bit fitter this year, but I don't see her serve getting much better at 33 years old... her arms look like toothpicks and she's used to hitting double-handed. Just has to be sure to buckle down in those tough moments because she has a propensity for choking (like today and in the Australian Open).

Those low, flat balls of hers could do major damage on the grass now that she's seeded in the slams. Luckily her game appears to expend a very low amount of energy so she's unlikely to get injured. Tiny little baby steps around the court, short and gentle racquet swings. I'm hoping she can stay on the tour for years to come if she still enjoys it.

And when she's on, r169, Hsieh can create the most amazing short angles, almost Seles like but without the same power.

RBA is serving to take down Boobs Out!!

Go RBA!!

Not that I miss her, but where the hell has drug cheat Sharapova been?

RBA!!! 🎉👍🎉

R172 In Siberia searching for replacement meds before all her clay season ranking points come off.

Gay ally RBA was so good today. When he plays well he's like a backboard that ALSO smacks the ball with immense pace into the corners. Has now won his last 3 hard court meetings with Djokovic.

Tiafoe was down 3-5 to Goffin who was serving for the set. Rattles off 4 games in a row to take the first set himself! His forehand technique is so ugly to me but I love watching him play for the great movement, that HUGE booty, and all the hunks in his players box.

Seconded on Tiafoe's assets--this round of 16 with few exceptions has been very easy on the eyes.

Tiafoe is ripped.

RAIN!

[quote] RAIN!

Noooooooooooooo! How can I survive? Oh the humanity!

Anyone know what happened with Kyrgios? I had the match on with the volume down while I was on a call, and I saw him jawing at the umpire in the 3rd set.

The whiny little bastard lost. Thank God.

But what was he bitching about? Just a regular line call, or did he mix it up with the fans again? Maybe Kerber was in the stands shouting "drama queen"?

He said a fan told him to "play some tennis"...so he told him to fuck off and the umpire penalized him a point and it was a break point.

Federer's match has been postponed until tomorrow. I think the other matches will resume?

match started. I think Titsy match will also be postponed

Elf team

Federer-Medvedev posponed for tomorrow with Anderson already awaiting in QFs.

Tsitsipas-Shapovalov still today, to be played on the "first available court" (between Centre and Grandstand)

yay for Tiafoe! a tough 7-5 7-6(6) win over his Goffin. His first win actually after being 0-3. Weirdly, the first time they played a few years ago Tiafoe choked match point. He was brand new to the tour. The next 2 match scores got progressively easier and last time was a beat down so this victory had to feel good.

Now we're guaranteed 4 #NextGen guys to be in the QF!!! A first at a Masters. In the top half we're getting FAA vs. Coric and Tiafoe will face the winner of Tsitsipas vs. Shapovalov

Federer vs. Medvedev is the only match rescheduled for tomorrow

Grandpa can't stay up this late.

Tiawful reverted to Australian Open Tiafoe. He actually was out there constructing points rather than bashing brainlessly. Very nice to see.

Premiere Mandatory

Tsitsipas vs. Shapovalov on Grandstand starting soon.

Battle of the long blond locks. A. Zverev must be jealous no one's talking about him. His 2 hair generation rivals are getting all the buzz after Tiafoe

Titsy is blond?

Twinkfest FAA v. Coric is scheduled as tomorrow night's marquee match on stadium court, though now having to fit Federer in may change things up.

Zverev is so 2017.

Tsitsy vs Shapo is the battle of pasty twinks.

Kvitova is such a loon. She was 5-2 up in the tiebreaker and then she lost 6-8. It is not like Barty is a great mover who retrieves everything but then Petra managed to lose to an old and out of Jankovic in Wimbledon grass court after leading a set and double break just a couple of years back

Titsy is pasty?

R194 to be fair Barty should have won their meeting in Sidney earlier this year but choked

Have to say of the #NextGen guys, most of them are good-looking. Off the top of my head, only Rublev and Opelka are fugly.

Zverev, Tsitsipas, Shapovalov, Tiafoe, Coric, FAA, Mmoh, Ruud are all decent looking.

So many next Gen players are doing well in Miami 4 in the quarterfinal and an additional 2 in Rd16. And Danil can be very dangerous to Roger tomorrow.

Come on Sasha ! Give us the sex tape! Its high time you take back all the attention from these twerps which you rightfully deserve. If your girlfriend is shy then at least you show your own naked booty on Instgram just like those Indtawhores

R197. I agree only Rublev and Ugo Umbert are weird looking. Munar is sort of cute, but the grunt is over the top and headband makes him look silly. Taylor Fritz is hot with shorter hair. It's too bad Tommy Paul is permanently injured.

[quote] show your own naked booty

Flat booty.

Whenever I start to search “Miami Open” on my iPhone, as soon as I type “m-i “, the first thing that keeps popping up on the list of recommended results is the Wikipedia page for Miyoshi Umeki.

Granted I’m TCM fag from way back, but I don’t ever recall trying to research Umeki’s biography.

Little Shapov-horrors

[quote] the first thing that keeps popping up on the list of recommended results is the Wikipedia page for Miyoshi Umeki.

That's the delicate, some say the flower-like, Miyoshi Umeki to you, bastard cunt at R201.

lol R202

R199, Humbert's chiseled Gallic look matches his knee-high black socks and infamous surname.

no #1 for Kvitova. She loses in 3 to Barty.

Halep will be #1 again if she reaches the final. If not, Osaka retains

The Osaka abides.

Barty makes her top 10 debut with that win! Happy for her, but a little sad for Petra. She had an asthma attack in the 3rd set and it completely ruined her. You could really see her struggling to breathe and her inhaler wasn't doing a lot.

She has been even closer to the #1 ranking before. I think in one Sydney match a few years ago (perhaps against Li Na) she may have even had match points, or at least served for it. There's always an obstacle for her, it seems. Crazy that her fellow Czech Karolina Pliskova has held the top spot and she hasn't.

I know she has a lot to defend on clay with Madrid and Prague titles (and Halep does too with her RG win and Rome final), plus Naomi has nothing on clay. So even if Halep wrestles back the #1 ranking this week, it will be tough for her to maintain it unless she defends her slam.

Will be tough for Kvitova too but she could get there with Naomi flopping and a DEEP run at RG (she has made the SF before). She has also won Madrid 3 times so who knows, she may be able to keep a few of her points.

Help.

so far Osaka has been horrible on clay. We'll see if she's improved at all

We'll seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

Osaka's best results are all on hardcourts, she's barely .500 on both clay and grass. I'm not writing off her chances on those surfaces, especially grass where players tend to improve as they figure out some of the idiosyncrasies of the surface. But nor would I be surprised if she remains a mostly hard court surface player, like Wozniacki.

Titsy team or Shapo team?

Steffi!!!

wow I'm surprised Shapovalov was just a bit more consistent when it counted. He went for his shots and made them while Tsitsipas faltered in the third set tiebreak.

Stef couldn't return any serves the last few games of the set. Shapo's ego is now totally out of control.

The OP picture jinx worked. Titsy down.

[quote] Shapo's ego is now totally out of control.

What tennis tournament ya'll watching? i don't get the tennis network.

I'm fuming that the OP's jinx worked! Now John Jizzner has a clear path to a title defence.

Really gonna need RBA to do the lord's work.

yeah Isner should have been cover boy.

ESL!!!!

[quote]What tennis tournament ya'll watching? i don't get the tennis network

Miami Open

[quote]Titsy is pasty?

Shopbottom?!

Hmmm. I wonder what's up with Djokovic? Is he going to go on another year-plus mental walkabout? With him faltering right as the clay season starts, I'm hoping against hope that this doesn't mean yet another Nadal French Open title. I think Djokovic is the only one who can take down a healthy Nadal at Roland Garros. Maybe Thiem could take Nadal down if Nadal is still a bit injured, but we all know how Nadal usually miraculously get cured in time for Roland Garros.

As for the women, who cares? It's such a boring lineup these days. These things go in cycles, though. At some point, the women's game will be more interesting than the men's. I suspect that'll be when the Big 3 finally fall and it's just chaos.

What Big 3?

I don't really care for another Nadal or Djokovic run. Same goes for (probable frontrunner) Halep grinding me to sleep on her way to another RG title.

Wawrinka played so well in his title winning year I wouldn't mind seeing him win another French Open. One of those matches where Djokovic was at [pretty much] his peak and STILL got beaten by a great clay player summoning their most insanely good level of tennis. After the performance Domi Cakes gave last year I don't trust him in a final lol.

For the women I wouldn't mind seeing Kiki Bertens win it. She's already made the SF before, and now that she's a top player and in the shape of her life she can do even more damage on the clay. Or Petra to finally take #1 and another slam, she's surprisingly good on clay too (three Madrid titles and also a French SF).

Actually the female clay field is so bad in general. Svitolina and Carlo Suarez Navarro won't ever go past a QF, Muguruza and last year's runner up Sloane are the streakiest players on the tour. Sharapova needed to be dosed up to her eyeballs to win those RG titles.

She's a pain but I wouldn't mind Serena tying the vile homophobe's record at the French, since it's the slam I care about the least we can just get it over with lol. Otherwise a big surprise like Hsieh Su Wei would be fun! Andreescu and Kontaveit are ones to watch too on the clay.

R225 and R227, the Big 3 are already faltering. Federer at almost 38 hasn't made it to a GS final in over a year, Nadal's frequently injured, and Djokovic seems to have fallen down again. Wawrinka isn't in the spoiler mix any more since he hasn't been a true GS threat in a couple of years. With the progress of NextGen, we'll probably see a changing of the guard without too much chaos. FAA, Tsitsipas, Shapo, Tiafoe, and Coric should be able to join Thiem and A. Zverev (presuming he'll eventually get it right at the GS level) as real contenders for GS titles in 2019 and 2020.

[quote] Actually the female clay field is so bad in general. Svitolina and Carlo Suarez Navarro

Female? Carlo?

[quote] Wawrinka played so well in his title winning year I wouldn't mind seeing him win another French Open.

Same here.

In the last couple years Wawrinka's forehand has started flying on him again. It's not as bad as the first half of his career but it's not as controlled during his peak years. I realize with the injuries he's lost consistency and rhythm but he'll need to tighten up the forehand if he wants to get back to the top 10. He had some wild errors last week against Krajinovic.

I think Djokovic cares only about Slams now.

Halep into the SF after an UGLY second set choke from Wang Qiang. Final score was 6-4, 7-5. But in the second set, Wang led 5-1 and had three consecutive set points, all come and gone.

Halep 1 match away from regaining #1

Help Help to get to number 1!

Djokovic was amazing during the last three GS, but he is very far from the dominant player he used to be in his peak years.

Right now starts a very interesting time on the atp, at least at the non GS tournaments (till proved otherwise the big three still rule the 4 GS), with a lot of new players rising on the rankings and the veterans being very competitive.

Tsitsipas was heavily criticied in one of the highlight videos on youtube, he was accused of hindrance during the match. I'm a little dissapointed with his behaviour lately.

And i don't find Ugo Humber ugly, he is not a handsome guy but he is not ugly, and he seems very nice, and plays the piano and i really like his game. And Rublev, i think he like Tsitsipas would benefit a lot of a decent haircut

I’m surprised the cover boy curse worked.

R228, until someone other than Federer, Nadal, or Djokovic wins a Slam, the Big 3 still dominate in that arena. 2017 was two toFed, two to Nadal. 2018 was two to Djokovic, one to Fed, one to Nadal. So far this year, it's one to Djokovic. I agree with your statements in general about the Big 3 as of late, but that's mostly in non-Slam events. The next Slam is the French, and a healthy Nadal probably wins RG this year unless Djokovic gets out of whatever slump he's in, or Federer somehow turns it on at RG.

Like R236 wrote, outside the Slams it's a different case, and has been the last couple years, but these young guys have faltered continuously on the big stage. I still see that it's more likely a veteran wins a Slam event than the young guys until proven otherwise.

Who here is rooting for a Misery recovery and comeback?

I think the main difference between now and the previous years is that in the previous years one or two of the big three were in a slum, an injury or in bad form while the other dominates, and her i include Murray because he was the dominant player for a while. Now it's not needed that the big three are injured or in bad form, they just don't dominate (outside GS), they are always contenders for the win or even the favourites but it's not that surprising if all of them get eliminated before the final rounds.

But till this lack of strong dominated translates in GS wins for new players there won't be a real change.

Given their age, they should be the underdog at a GS (like the last finals Sampras played) and not the big favourites. Anyway, the transition is going to happen soon, not only because of their age but because of the players making waves are very young ones, and they have not the big burden of being defeated again and again and again.

Anyway, the fact that a very far from great form Nadal reached the Australian Open so easily makes me think that it won't be so easy that the dynamic change at GS

Agreed in part, R238, but how much longer can Djokovic and Nadal dominate as they enter their mid-30s? Federer is a big question mark as well given that he hasn't gone beyond the GS quarters since last year's AO. The amount of improvement we've seen recently from NextGen players brings a new element into the conversation. Some of them are now at a point where they should be making some significant GS inroads. We'll see.

#NextGen is hungry to get Masters and Slams. It hasn't happened yet but it will. The lost generation (Raonic, Nishikori, Dimitrov etc) with the exception of Thiem is being overtaken by the younger guys.

I do think Thiem could put together a run at RG if he stays focused in matches and doesn't get too tight at the end of sets

#wienertorte

I haven't seen the begoggled Ms. Wintour in Roger's box!

I’m hoping Domicakes wins the French. I love seeing his ass.

If that's the sole criterion, R246, then there are plenty of other worthy candidates...

Old man Fed continues on. Can he be stopped?

Rublev is homely but I'm obsessed with his hair color - it's so coppery! Titsy could up the hotness quotient INSTANTLY with a good haircut and shave.

Medvedev it seems the same type of player than Khachanov or Coric, he can play amazingly well but he seems unable to keep the level for a long time

Mmmm Coric

Izzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzner

as I said at the beginning of the draw, unfortunately Isner had a very easy draw. RBN is a good player but he has trouble against big servers.

I think we're doomed for a dull Federer vs. Isner final. Unless Coric starts playing better as he has beaten both before

Does Tommy Hilfiger dress Isner? His togs are always so similar, and rather juvenile looking.

Coric should play in a jockstrap.

[quote]RBN is a good player

Roberto Bautista Nagut

[quote]Does Tommy Hilfiger dress Isner?

I think Fila is his clothing sponsor

R256 lol RBA my mistake!

Agree R255...how can we make that happen? He has joked about doing porn on Insta before

FAA and Coric, both wearing only jockstraps and embracing at the net, would be a premium rate ticket.

Djokovic just dominated Nadal in the Aussie Open final, played out of his mind. I don't think he cares about these non-GS tournaments anymore.

Pliskbot def. Vondroussova straights.

SF are:

Kontaveit vs. Barty

Halep vs. Pliskova

Porna v FAA now, bitches!

Think Halep will take it?

Coric is so beautiful. Even more beautiful than Sasha

Miss Borna getting her lovely ass whupped now.

What is Coric’s skin color?

White.

well FAA tops Coric in 2

FAA so impressive and composed...I hope he can play well against Isner but not sure how he does against big servers...

Borna omfg his forehand was a MESS tonight! not as bad as woeful Paire's but he missed so many that a recreational player would be pissed at missing. Sometimes he decelerates into the net and other times it flies long. He's got to fix that if he wants to compete for big titles

FCC is the youngest EVER semifinals in this event's 35-year history!!!

Also Guillermo Cañas was in the stands. He was the last qualifier to make to the quarterfinal , in 2007.

FCC is producing incredible results

Isner lost to Titsy in doubles. Shopbottom lost to Bryan twins

Felix!! (Also, stop trying to make FCC happen... it's only mildly funny.)

Borna has a rocking bod, but his face is kinda... ordinary, other than his lips. Altogether an attractive package, though!

I felt like Felix avoided Borna's forehand until the end of the first set, so it wasn't really warmed up by the time Felix started targeting it. I was surprised that he was going to Borna's stronger backhand at first, but it seems to have worked.

I would let those Bryan twins fuck me 8 ways from Sunday. I used to see them all the time when I played The Ojai juniors (and college) tournament.

Thiem.

Soaked ass.

Each to its own but I find Borna 's face very beautiful along with Sasha, Thiem, Fabio and Karen K.

One doesn't have to have a good looking face to be sexy though. Stan and Robin Soldering don't have a good looking face but overall I find them very sexy.

But for some players, their face ruins their overall attractiveness so much that even a killer body can't compensate for it. e.g Nadal, Monfils

[quote] Each to its own but I find Borna 's face very beautiful along with Sasha, Thiem

Agree with you up to there, although A. Zverev's lanky frame takes away from his sexiness in my opinion.

[quote] One doesn't have to have a good looking face to be sexy though. Stan

Wawrinka's ass is sexy.

[quote] But for some players, their face ruins their overall attractiveness so much that even a killer body can't compensate for it. e.g Nadal

Agreed. Nadal looks like a chimp. His ass is (was) beautiful.

Worse, Nadal looks like an OCD chimp having a stroke.

To each his own. I'm not even remotely attracted to Wawrinka or Soderling, and the poor attitudes of Zverev and Fognini make them ugly. Thiem looks like an elf. If I had my fantasy pick of 5 from the ATP top 100, it'd be FAA, Monfils, Sousa, Nishikori and PCB. Honorable mention to Coric, McDonald, and Tomic's ass.

What about that gorgeous guy who looks like a Tom of Finland model? Can't remember his name, but know who I mean?

Marton F from Hungry?His body is good

Fucsovics would be Tom of Finland throwback.

Yes, that's him! Fucsovics.

Martin's very Tom of Finland hot. But Thiem's elf like looks are actually what I find attractive about him! Ditto goffin. And actually Felix as well.

My fantasy top 5 would be Tsonga, Bolelli, Coric, Dimitrov and Khachanov

Is FAA really the youngest SFalist in the history of the event? Tennis commentators are always getting stats wrong. Monica Seles and Martina Hingis both won the whole thing at 16 (and again at 17 for Monica). Venus at 18.

[quote[ Is FAA really the youngest SFalist in the history of the event? Tennis commentators are always getting stats wrong. Monica Seles and Martina Hingis both won the whole thing at 16 (and again at 17 for Monica). Venus at 18.

Youngest MALE SFalist

FAA has great legs.

Borna.

WHET to Cersei?

You rang?

Coric

....

There are 5 scripts for 5 GoT spinoff under pre-production. Has casting been announced?

R293 I have also been contacted about the role...

which role, Diego?

....

I love FAA but I don’t see much of an ass or cock despite his great taught body.

I'm happy to teach his body any time.

[quote] Drop your business card in the Gaping Prolapse Bowl

Could they use an elf?

Um, what was the situation where Coric was stripped down to bikini underwear on the court???

more rain!

Noooooooooo! Not rain.

Shirtless popsicle.

Kontaveit vs. Barty starting finally

an hour late was just too much!

R239 me. Me!

Rain? I am crying as I type this.

NOT AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!

Taut indeed...

yeah FAA, Coric, Tiafoe all have nice bodies. I hope more of #NextGen follows. We don't need more stickly Djokovic bodies or average builds with a little belly a la Federer.

Yeah anorexic Gumby does nothing for me.

Another weather delay. Sigh.

Another Borna. Lots more at link.

R311 Sigh?

I AM CUTTING MY WRISTS

SPEND THE $100,000,000 AND BUILD A FUCKING ROOF!!!

^ This

I don't remember it raining so much at Crandon Park. This must just be a very rainy year in Miami.

Are they going to able to mop up for Tiafoe-Shapo?

what a cock that is on Coric, damn

They're getting ready to resume.

Play to restart in a few minutes!!

trying to catch my breath

finally, a reason to go on, a reason to life!

Shapo's right knee taped. Ruh-roh!

Come on, Franny!

That was cute little exchange from Fed

Anderson is trying hard to lose in less than an hour. Well on his way.

Isnt he known for having a good serve?

Shopbottom!

How much Anderson got to throw the match quickly for Roger?

Semi-finals:

Federer - age 37 (career $121,954,063) vs Shapovalov - age 19 (career $2,646,288)

Isner - age 33 (career $17,210,718) vs FAA - age 18 (career $666,114)

lol, Federer is old enough to be Shapo's father!

RAIN

Dads vs. Lads

Nooooooooo, R331!

Happy for Barty hope she wins the title

Tiafoe had the first set then lost his way oh well

of the 4 left, I want Felix to win.

Nightmare would be a deplorable vs. Putin-loving wannabe rapper final ugh

I'm predicting an Isner Fed final.

Pliskova up 7-5 5-0 and then MORE RAIN

Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain!

FAA all the way...

Does anyone know the last time a qualifier made the SF, Final, or winning a Masters 1000 event?

Halep should just retire from the match.

Pliskova wins

ladies final is Barty vs. Pliskova

Osaka stays #1

R339, this is from October 2017...

John is at it again

Kudos to Johnny Mac for not taking the 5th on that last question. While there are probably better clips, this one does a pretty good job of suggesting what Ivan was packing.

McEnroe has aged and mellowed better than the bloated dour Lendl. So there's that.

Shapo v Felix! Please.

Ugh Ivan Lendl...he looks Nosferatu.

Why aren’t we talking about Kevin Anderson’s ass? Looking spectacular last night with a hint of brief line.

Felix and Fed share the same birthday. On August 8th Fed will be exactly twice Felix's age.

Probably because Anderson was having his spectacular ass handed to him in last night's game, R348.

Plus Anderson looks like a haunted telegraph pole with hyperthyroidism.

Anderson is by almost all accounts a good guy, but he's not such fun to watch.

He is, (R352) but not a whole lot of personality. Shy - not Gasquet discomfort level shy - but very reserved. Shame he plays such dull tennis, too.

Let me tell you that Richie is not shy when it comes to the gals!

Oh god, we're getting the US feed in Canada today.... Chris Fowler et al .. ugh

Ugh... FAA serving for the set at 5-4 (had only lost 6 points on serve until this game) and hits THREE double faults and a stupid error to break himself.

What kind of Jana Novotna / Gaby Sabatini choke is this...

And then FAA loses the 1st tiebreak. Damn!

STFU, ESL

R358 Don't speak to ESL like that. Have some respect.

WHat R359 said

I'll show respect when ESL stops making snide and hateful comments. He loves to kick players when they're down.

R361 omg how beastly!

Which poster is ESL and how do you recognise him?

Jesus christ.... FAA gets a chance to serve out the SECOND set (at 5-3 this time). Double faults, dumping easy errors into the net...

Are we really just going to let Isner stay in the top 10?

:(

Ugh, FAA was serving for the 2nd set and blew that game with a double fault followed by a swinging volley into the net. He's gotta regroup quickly here.

R362, no, just unworthy of respect.

Thiem

FAA is only 18 so while I'm disappointed he failed to serve out both sets, I'm not going to be too tough on him. It's clear he realized the moment both times and got tight.

Shapovalov double faults a lot too

R368 I agree that he's young and it's inexperience in these tight moments, but 3 double faults in one service game is rather extreme... very Kiki Mladenovic of him.

It is more painful because we all like FAA and we all hate John Isner. He's already been let off the hook so many times in this tournament (usually in the tiebreaks) but for FAA to have both sets in his hands and just hand them back over to John... tough to watch.

R369 I agree fully but I'm going to give FAA time. If it becomes a pattern then I'll criticize more.

I couldn't believe Isner's luck in Miami last year. This year is even more shocking. and annoying

I thought there's no way Isner comes close to defending his title...then the draw came out and I said wow it might happen. Now even if he doesn't defend, he's not losing that many points like Sock did after Paris

I agree, r369. It's bad enough when Isner earns a victory; it's all the more painful when he's gifted a win.

I hate Isner more than is probably healthy.

Check out gay grandpa linesman with the tats and chains reclaiming his youth, dangnabbit!

Tsitsy is into the men's doubles final with Dutch player Wesley Koolhof.

FAA def. FAA so Isner advances to the final

FAA coulda and shoulda that match. I hope Isner knows that.

I like Shapovalov's game but not his personality and Putin loving but I guess I want the winner of Federer/Shapovalov to win the title.

Isner getting lucky 2 years in a row is beyond annoying

It's through very gritted teeth that I commend Isner applauding FAA as he left the court.

Keep in mind too that Felix had to gut it out through the qualies too and came back from being down in several matches on his way to the semis. He deserves a ton of credit for what he's accomplished and has done phenomenally well for his first effort at this level.

Of the remaining three I couldn't care less who wins.

Clutch breaks for Jizzner in both sets and classy hug at the net and applause from him. FAA is usually so calm but he was nervous today. He'll win many titles.

It's like people didn't see him in Rio, particularly in the final.

Meaning what, R382?

He got nervous in Rio too (?). He should've beat Nishioka at IW too after staging a great comeback and then taking the lead in the tiebreaker in the final set.

He's 18 years old playing well beyond other people his age. Of course he's going to get nervous.

Felix has come back from behind quite a few times and clearly is capable of getting through to the next level. These losses will give him perspective to raise his game to its highest level next time. It's way too early to start branding him as a choker, especially with the records he's already broken. Time is on his side for at least two or three more years before he gets saddled with any kind of bullshit naysaying from salty sourballs.

I remember last year John 'MAGA' Isner had only won a single match before Miami and bullshitted his way to the title. This year he's had some okay runs in tiny events in America but it still seemed like everything was set for him to take a tumble down the rankings. The worst part is I can genuinely see him beating Shapo or Federer in the final just with them collapsing.

Is he even a good tennis player? Or is he just tall...

don't forget Isner's lucky run at Wimbledon last year. Anderson barely stopped him

Come on, Felix is young and he will learn of this experience. It's a pity because frankly i don't like Isner tennis, even i don't dislike him as much as many people here

I don't like Isner or his style of play either, but he has more than luck going for him. Same with Raonic, Karlovic, and Opelka.

Isner in Miami 2019

7-6(2) 7-6(7) 7-5 7-6(6) 7-6(5) 7-6(3) 7-6(1) 7-6(5) 7-6(3) 7-6(4)

R390 and K. Anderson.

Isner knows FAA will hand him many losses in future matches.

Isner will stay on top 10 after Miami...

Isner will be 34 in April. By the time Felix reaches his peak, Isner will be commentating on the Fox channel.

R395 unfortunately Isner might stay on tour for a while as long as his serve holds up. Look at Karlovic who's now 40. He did fall out of the top 100 for the last couple years but he's regained momentum now.

As much as it pains me to say it, Isner is still pretty good at the net. With the easy points he gets from his serve he's not going away any time soon.

Players with big serves stay on the circuit for a long time. They don't waste energy and they have a lot of free points with their serve.

What's surprising is the fact that Felix had the opportunity to win, being able to broke Isner's serve more than once is something to be proud of, even if he wasted the opportunity to win

Isner is a pretty decent player outside the serve, he is the player who was nearer of defeat Nadal on Roland Garros (outside of Soderling and Djokovic of course), the fact that he is able to win on clay says something about his game outside the serve

True, but Isner is likely to follow the inevitable slow decline of age no matter how long he hangs on. I doubt he'll be in the top 10 and reaching big finals for very much longer even if he squeaks out several more years.

Much brighter and with a more solid head on his shoulders than most on the ATP tour...

FAA is effin adorable.

He seems lovely, but i will wait a bit. Tsitsipas seemed inteligent and articulate last year but lately he is more on the spoiled diva camp

Shapo getting spanked hard by Gramps so far...

Little Shapov-HORROR.

He is shitting the bed.

Gonna be the worst final ever!!!

Only if Roger loses ^

Slightly off-topic, but does anyone think that Pammy's had a little Botox/filler? Her mouth last night looked suspiciously turned up at the corners, a la the Joker (and I don't mean Nole).

Pammy looks quite natural next to Chrissie and Tracy.

Chrissie looked a little rough last night, R408 -- especially around the eyes, that make-up wasn't doing her any favors.

[quote] saddled with any kind of bullshit naysaying from salty sourballs.

I, for one, among female players liked salty sourballs.

[quote] Isner will be commentating on the Fox channel.

It's a gig.

[quote] Which poster is ESL and how do you recognise him?

ESL is a long time tennis poster on DL. He got banned last year supposedly for making racist comments on other threads. After the ban when he returned he stopped using "ESL" in his signature line. However, he is still recognizable based on his characteristic Slavic-style of writing in English which is why he adopted the moniker "ESL" (English as a Second Language). I, for one, appreciated his posts and humor over the years, but I understand why he rubs some people the wrong way. I didn't see the racist comments on other threads, so I can't comment on the veracity of that. I think he got a red tag though at the time of banning.

Mark Petchey said on Twitter that FAA went straight out onto a practice court without even a coach to work on his serve. Isner replied to that with "Humble and hard working. He's a special player".

Stop being likeable Isner ffs you're making me hate you slightly less.

Shapovalov will still be a top 20 on Monday

FCC will be 33

Most ATP Masters 1000 finals

Federer, 50 (27-22)

Nadal, 49 (33-16)

Djokovic, 47 (32-15)

Lendl, 33 (22-11)

Connors, 29 (17-12)

Using FCC is so fetch.

It's so choice too, R416.

Who will win the ladies title later today?

More to the point, R418, who in the world cares?

I hope Barty wins. Pliskova is so dull

As for the men's tournament, my favorite matches were the #NextGen clashes. It was fun seeing Shapovalov take on Rublev, Tsitsipas and Tiafoe. We'll be seeing more of those for the next few years at least. We also got FAA vs. Coric. A. Zverev flopped and didn't take part obviously. I'll watch the men's final but annoyed that both are the finalists.

[quote] More to the point, R418, who in the world cares?

Hello!

[quote] Pliskova is so dull

Which is why we call her Pliskbot.

I want Pliskova to win. Ever since she has defeated Serena in Austrailain open from the brink of defeat she has won my respect.

Atp is getting very interesting now, the big three are very far from done but the young players are coming, and i think this time is for real.

I think Shapo's problem on the semis is worse than Felix. Felix tanked like Kuhn did in the first round, he felt the pressure and the nerves got the best of him, but he played well and he had chances. Shapo simply could not deal with playing against his idol but that would only be a problem if he tanks the same way the next time he face Federer.

It was a very good tournament for the next gen, there was a good bunch of matches between promising players, some of those were very good (Shapo-Tsitsipas was a great match). And maybe this time Zverev sees the wrtting on the wall because time is running out for him. One thing was tank at GS and other very different fail miserably at masters 1000, where he really showed his potential before. And of course it's the fact that younger players are improving, Tsitsipas is a top 10 player now, and Shapo will be top 20 on monday. He has a lot of competence, and i am curious about how he'll react when he has to face the younger players, and even more if he lose.

To be fair to the women, I also think they have a good mix right now. Of both styles and generations. You have the young guns (Andreescu, Kenin, Osaka, Sabalenka, Yastremska, Wangs, Barty, Kontaveit), the 'peak age' current stars (Halep, Kvitova, Pliskova, Muguruza, Bertens, Svitolina, Stephens), and the elderly girls who can still take out anyone if they're peaking (Venus, Serena, Kerber, Hsieh). And a whole host of others to make a few upsets here and there, plus the super-young juniors who will fully emerge soon (Gauff, Anisimova, Osuigwe, Swiatek).

It's an interesting time for both tours. As much as we tire of the big 3 dominating the slams, I don't think it will be the case for TOO much longer. The wheels are in motion.

My prediction, for what it's worth, is that the Big 3 will still sweep the Slams this year but someone else will break through next year. The wild card is of course injury, but I don't think there will be a true changing of the guard until 2021.

As for the women, I still think it's going to be a free-for-all for the next year or two. There's not enough that separates the best 10-15 players from each other ( not going by ranking since I don't think that tells much) so I don't see a Big 3 on the horizon. The best players will continue to beat up on each other and I think there will be another couple of single slam winners.

R425: Yes, they have, the problem is that they have no queen to dethrone. While on men they have three of the best players ever who reign for a decade and a half, on the women's circuit they have Serena who play from time to time and a good bunch of very irregular top players

So the canadian boy went to train his serve after losing that match. He is really a newbie, a top player only get release after a tough defeat uploading a nice video with his girlfriend

E and S and L!

if these 2 were the last 2 girls in the nightclub then I guess I want to go home alone||

Conchita is chunky. I don't like listening to the coaching interactions. They seem forced and a bit like watching sausage being made.

I think ​the Cyborg will lose

[quote] I think ​the Cyborg will lose

The possibility of Pliskbot successfully navigating Barty is approximately 3720 to 1.

No, that's simply not true. Barty has an history with chokings, and Pliskova on a good day is the type of player that can defeat anyone.

Anyway, i'm very happy Barty is doing so well. She won her jr GS very young, she seemed destined to great things and she totally crashed and burned, but she was able to get out of the wta, do other things for a while and return successfully. That's something that doesn't happen every day. And she has a more classical game, not the boring ballbashing that we get used from top players

Watching an oldsters match between Haas, who is almost limping like he uses a cast, and Roddick on Tennis Channel is better than the Miami Open women's final.

​Pliskova moves slowly and can get lazy with footwork

​Barty is tricky like hsieh

Somebody didn't fully charge Pliskbot. Seems low energy

Ashleigh Barty Miami champ 2019! good for her. She seems like a nice person and I like her all-court, tricky game. She's deceptively athletic.

I can't believe Pliskova was ever #1. Not a fan

And she is a top 10 player now, she really deserves it

14 WTA tournaments in 2019

14 different winners

Federer will try to be the first player with two singles titles on WTA or ATP in 2019 tomorrow.

19 ATPtournaments in 2019

19 different winners

WTA Top 10 on Monday

1. Osaka

2. Help

3. Kvitova

4. Pliskova

5. Kerber

6. Bertens

7. Svitolina

8. Stephens

9. Barty

10. Sabalenka

lmao Help

[quote] 19 ATPtournaments in 2019 19 different winners

Compelling.

[quote] lmao Help

Tehe.

So Felix still might have to play the qualies in Monte Carlo unless he's granted a WC or four MD players withdraw.

There are a lot of French players needing WCs so, probably qualifying for Felix.

Tsonga, Paire, Mannarino, Mahut, Humbert all need WCs.

Tsonga is in the MD with a protected ranking (not sure how that works?).

Charleston draw out:

Stephens, defending champ Bertens, Sabalenka, Sevastova, Wozniacki, Mertens, Goerges, Keys are the top 8. Other notable names are Bencic, Ostapenko, Kenin, Kanepi, Anisimova and WC to former winner Lisicki.

Agree with R439 re: Pliskova. For all the flack Safina and Jankovic took about being unworthy #1s, Pliskova was even less impressive. She moved to the top ranking on the heels of a 2nd round loss at Wimbledon. Half her points were from her US Open final and Premier 5 Cincinnati win -- 10 and 11 months earlier, respectively. She had SF points from the French a couple of months earlier, and a couple of basic Premier wins and that was apparently enough.

I don't like the rolling 12-month ranking system. It might have made sense when the surfaces were more distinct and the tour wanted to reward those who were particularly good on a particular surface a year earlier, but now they are almost the same and thus it over rewards someone whose more recent results are more mediocre. Way back in the '80s, the ranking points for tournament 6 to 12 months in the past were cut in half. I'd like to see that come back.

Pliskbot was buffering the entire match. I like Barty's game and her attitude. I like that she is kind of unattractive but somehow cute.

R447: There's a lot of buzz around Felix right now, it would be absurd if they don't give him a wc, not that he needs one like he proved here.

And the good thing is that he is really good on clay and he'll probably be seeded on RG (which is amazing given what happened in Australia)

I've never understood the criticism of players who reach No. 1 without a Slam. I get it, we want the No. 1 player to have won majors, but it's not like Pliskova (or Safina and Jankovic before her) was boycotting Slams. The way I look at it is how bad are the other top players that they could have won a Slam (which awards TWICE the points of any other event, save the Tour Champs), and yet they *still* didn't have enough points to overtake Pliskova for No. 1. How poorly were those players performing that they still fell short?

I'm not opposed to weighting the recent six months of results more heavily than the previous six. But the biggest problem with the rankings, IMO, is they still aren't counting every match. Both tours introduced the "Best of" ranking system (allowing players to count their best "x" number of events) in an effort to get players to play more often. But they lost the accuracy of the older system that counted points earned from all your events and divided by total events played. Under that system, you couldn't hide the fact that you had five first round losses by throwing those events out. Also, the old system awarded bonus points based on the level of player you beat. So Martina earned my points beating Christie than she did for beating, say, Kathy Jordan.

My points = more points

Sorry if this is a repost, watched Thiems youtube and was pleasantly surpised to find Ricco and The briefs back on Thiem.

Monterrey draw also out.

Kerber, Muguruza, Pavlyuchenkova, Riske, Azarenka, Flipkens, Mladenovic and Rybarikova are the top 8 seeds.

[quote] For all the flack Safina and Jankovic took about being unworthy #1s, Pliskova was even less impressive. She moved to the top ranking on the heels of a 2nd round loss at Wimbledon.

So, in short, they are future Hall of Famers right?

Tsitsidiva.

Tsitsy didn't win the Miami doubles title, the Bryan brothers won

R458, how old is that youtube video?

R467, how old is that video?

Jesus . I need coffe. R457, How old is that video?

Coffe

Covfefe, r465. Learn to spell.

r466 the videos are from december, it seems like he stopped making them after australia. Perhaps kiki didnt like the lack of her

His coach, Gunter Bresnik, said the video stuff was the stupidest idea ever. That probably put a stop to it.

interesting r468 But its good to see Ricco being part of it all given that they semingly was close

R455: It's very simple, if you are the number one you are supposed to be the best player in the world (for a while) if y ou are unable to win a GS during your career (and there are 4 GS every year because tennis is one of the most generous sports with its players, you have 4 opportunities of making history every years instead of one every four years like other sports) that put into question your number once because shows no dominance at all even for a short period of time. Jankovic only played one GS final, i like her but those are pathetic numbers for a number one

[quote][R455]: It's very simple, if you are the number one you are supposed to be the best player in the world (for a while) if y ou are unable to win a GS during your career (and there are 4 GS every year because tennis is one of the most generous sports with its players, you have 4 opportunities of making history every years instead of one every four years like other sports) that put into question your number once because shows no dominance at all even for a short period of time. Jankovic only played one GS final, i like her but those are pathetic numbers for a number one

So is it your contention that only Slam winners should be in the running for No. 1?

If so, then criticize the ranking system.

But - again - I don't understand the desire to criticize the *player* for achieving No. 1. Basically, it amounts to: "Pliskova isn't worthy of having been the No. 1 player. If only she had lost in the semis of the 2016 US Open, instead of the finals, then she wouldn't have reached No. 1 and I wouldn't tell you how unworthy she was of the top ranking."

Look, Pliskova went out and achieved the results she did. The WTA Tour gave somewhat arbitrary ranking points for each of those results, loaded them into their ranking system and - voila - Pliskova is your number one player. So do we throw shade at Pliskova (she's so bad, she's never won a Grand Slam)? Or do we throw shade at the ranking system?

It's ridiculous that (random player) goes out there, reaches a Slam final, a Slam semifinal, wins a handful of Premiere titles, and if the computer says she's No. 2 or 3, she's a promising and talented competitor, but if the computer says she's No. 1, she sucks.

No, that's not what i said what i said is that a real number one is able to win at least one GS. That's simple. A number one without any GS is like a garden without flowers.

Even more, they don't even need to win that GS during their number one, just win one. I think it's not that much to ask, given there's four every year.

And no, she (or he) doesn't sucks for not winning a GS, she or he is simply a lesser version of a number one

[quote]No, that's not what i said what i said is that a real number one is able to win at least one GS. That's simple. A number one without any GS is like a garden without flowers.

So - again - you should criticize the ranking system, instead of saying Jankovic had "pathetic numbers". Why throw shade at Jankovic?

[quote]Even more, they don't even need to win that GS during their number one, just win one. I think it's not that much to ask,

Yeah. 50 women have managed to win a Slam title in the history of the Open Era. It's not too much to ask.

I don't know about this idea that slams are the be-all and end-all of tennis. There are a fair few fluke winners who never did much outside of their slam wins. Someone has to win all the tournaments in between that we watch year-round.

Barbara Jordan has only ONE title to her name (the Australian Open) and according to a quick google finished her career with a 13–14 win/loss record. Ostapenko only holds two trophies, one of which is the Roland Garros win. Do I think Jankovic is less of a #1 because she didn't achieve that? I don't think so... even Garbine Muguruza only has 6 titles. Two of those were grand slams. As much as I can't stand her, Pliskova has been a more consistent force in the top 10 the last few years than she has.

My other question is, since you concede that it doesn't even matter if they eventually win a slam AFTER becoming #1, then why not wait until Pliskova's career is over to criticise her slamlessness? History has shown that many who achieve the #1 ranking without winning a slam, end up winning one eventually (Halep, Wozniacki, Saint Kim Clijsters, Amelie Momo).

As it stands, there are only 3 slamless #1s in history. Jankovic (who probably could have won a French or US Open if not for being stopped so much by Serena and Henin), Safina (who was so injured she basically had a broken back and retired less than 2 years after making her third slam final in the space of a year). And Pliskova (who still has time even though I hope she doesn't win one).

In addition to this there is one male player, Marcelos Rios (who became #1 exactly twenty one years ago this week). He made the Australian Open final but lost to Petr Korda who later tested positive for Nandrolone doping (more like Cheater Korda). The year he became #1 he reached that slam final, and won EIGHT titles including 3 masters events (doing the Sunshine Double, and also winning Rome). He won the second-most prize money that year and ended up with a much better career than some players who did win slams (like Gaudio, and the man who 'beat him' in that slam final).

Sasha is working hard in gym

Federer trying to become the first player on either tour to win a second title in 2019. Such a crazy beginning to the year.

And on the women's side, 14 events, 14 different winners, and still Serena, Venus, Halep, Svitolina, Stephens, Wozniacki, Keys, and Muguruza are all without a title on the year.

Barcelona ATP slate...

[quote] Barbara Jordan has only ONE title to her name (the Australian Open) and according to a quick google finished her career with a 13–14 win/loss record. Ostapenko only holds two trophies, one of which is the Roland Garros win. Do I think Jankovic is less of a #1 because she didn't achieve that?

Thank you.

Just look at the requirements for the tennis HOF then to add to the petty argument above. I don’t see any #1 (like Safina or Jankovic) getting in. You HAVE to win a grand slam to get into the tennis HOF, not the other way around. Look at Mary Pierce - she gets in this year. She won 2 slams and got to a bunch of finals and never was ranked higher than #3 I believe. But she gets in.

Safina or Jankovic will not get in. And if Pliskova never wins a slam, neither will she.

[quote]He [Rios] made the Australian Open final but lost to Petr Korda who later tested positive for Nandrolone doping

Is that AO still listed as a Korda win? Shouldn’t he have been retroactively disqualified and Rios declared the winner?

[quote] You HAVE to win a grand slam to get into the tennis HOF, not the other way around.

You have to get into the Hall of Fame in order to win a grand slam.

Pliskova rightfully gets shit on because when she became #1, her only active titles were 2016 Nottingham and Cincinnati (her biggest title so far). She also had finalist points from 2015 Zhuhai and then 2016 finals Eastbourne and of course the USO. Those are very low and pathetic results for a #1. If you're going to be a slamless #1, at least win a number of huge events that year. Since losing her #1 ranking, Pliskova's biggest titles are Tokyo, Doha and Stuttgart. This Miami runner up is her second biggest since the 2016 USO. So really, Pliskova's results haven't been that impressive at all for a #1.

If she doesn't win a slam, she'll need a IW, Miami, Madrid or more Cincinnati wins to get less criticism. Even an Olympics would help. Right now her accomplishments are far below Jankovic and Safina's

The match should be on right now but on ESPN2 it's car racing of some kind. What's the deal?

And ESPN2 finally goes to the match and it's already in progress. FUCK YOU, ESPN2.

And with the first game break, the first set goes to Roger because stupid Isner can't break an egg let alone a service game of anyone in the top 300.

car racing probably makes more money so it takes priority lol

R474: Not too much for a number one, i thought it was obvious we are talking about being a number one. Jankovic had a great career, nobody questioned that

R481: Ríos tanked that final big time, he doesn't deserve the title. He was the big favourite but his mental strenght never was as big as his mouth. Korda was not tested positive on Australia, it was later so that's the reason he didn't lose the title

Chris Fowler just apologized for the delayed start and included the phrase, it was "...far beyond our control..." that they stayed with a post-match ceremony in Bahrain. So no one is actually running the ESPN 2 network? They have been hijacked by Bahraini Grand Prix fans?

Goddammit, I get the world feed for the first three games of Federer/Isner, then the feed switches over to the ESPN feed and I get the Fowler crew's non-stp verbosity, arghhhhhhh

R483 That's not Pliskova's fault though, is it? She didn't petition to be made No.1. The way the rankings system is set up did that.

I do see that Pliskova being No.1 seems a bit odd considering her lack of titles but you can't deny the consistency that got her there.

There are so many names who "should" have won Slams or "should" have been No.1 but whether they achieved either is just "the way it is" and pointless to moan about. Yes, it's odd that Pliskova has been No. 1 but Kvitova hasn't, for example, but once you look past that you can see that the rankings aren't just plucked out of the air. It takes a LOT to get to No. 1. It takes a year's worth of results to do so. Winning a Slam "only" takes two weeks.

Good news, this match is going to be over in 20 more minutes.

Good lord, like a first round match against a qualifier.

6-1 in 23 minutes

R492 no it shows that 2016 was a very odd year and Pliskova with her middling results did just enough. Not her fault, but noting to celebrate

Wow, Federer is destroying him

I'm glad Federer is winning this easily. I hope the second set goes as fast. I don't root for him that much these days but besides being a deplorable, Isner's game is so boring and he got lucky AGAIN. His draw was easy, he avoided Djokovic and FAA choked in both sets against him. I hope Federer destroys him in less than an hour

It's also interesting looking at the number of points they reached #1 with. Serena spent many years with something like 10,000+. Even with two slams, the Indian Wells PM title, and her WTA finals appearance (a HUGE points haul which is why Pliskova fought so hard to get there last year when Bertens had basically overtaken her), Osaka only had something around 6000 points. Which is still proving hard to catch.

When Serena was on mat. leave (and Maria on drug leave), there was a bit of a vacuum because the points were spread out further than just one or two people at the top. That's how Pliskova was able to get to #1 for that brief second before Muguruza got her shit together a little bit. That year it went from Kerber to Pliskova to Muguruza to Halep to Wozniacki. In fact with 2 slam finals, another slam SF and 4R, the YEC final, and very deep runs at the Sunshine double and Rome, Venus probably would have held the #1 ranking event but she plays so few events (forfeiting her year-end top 10 bonus).

By the same token, someone like Hsieh reached a career high ranking of #23 a few years ago with FAR fewer points than she has racked up the last 12+ months. She was higher ranked then because Serena/Vika/Maria/Venus were hogging all the points at the top, and she didn't need as many to have the '23rd most'. Now all those points have been shared and spread out, and she's about to overtake her career-high ranking with her 4R Wimbledon appearance, Hiroshima title, Auckland/Rabat/Tianjin/Seoul semi finals, deep runs in Dubai and Miami, points in Australian Open, etc.

Let's face it, a lot of recent wta number ones would have never been number one in other eras. They simply lack of consistency and regularity. I remember when Halep, Pliskova and Muguruza were fighting for number one and that must be one of the most pathetic moments in wta history, will all of them losing as fast as they could like noone really wanted to be number one.

They keep saying that wta is exciting because there are a lot of players that can win a big title, but that would only be real if they were playing their best week after week to get those victories.

What is the point of watching this? I am going to catch BB Canada. What a disappointment. Bye guys

Mirka's not impressed either

The point of watching is to witness Isner's humiliation. Sweet.

Gimelstob is there...

Roger giving a generous visible penis outline today. Worth watching!

John Isn'ter really is atrociously bad... For all the talk about how he has a strong net game and his groundstrokes are powerful or whatever, today he is showing that he really isn't anything but a serve. And even that isn't proving too effective. The amount of poor tactical choices (failing to follow his approaches in etc.), and points where he has totally misread the play - horrible.

The commentators are saying he hasn't even beaten a top 10 player since Miami last year. His ball was just out (as hawkeye showed) and even Federer didn't bother challenging.

Shame on all the players who let him get this far, and thus stay in the top 10.

Well Rog is the GOAT and wants to win a Masters again. Hasn't won since 2018 in IW. He's motivated.

There should be a rule that the player serving MUST use the two tennis balls tossed to them by the ball kids. They waste so much damn time getting all six balls and slowly investigating each of them like they are the rosetta stone and then nonchalantly dropping each so that the ball kids have to spend more time running to pick them up. Just serve for the love of god. The balls aren't that different.

R506: He is not bad but all his game rely on the serve. When the serve is not at his best all his game falls like a house of cards

Isner doing the loser's limp.

Isner apologized to Federer for the injury evaluation.

I wish he'd apologize to us for how he plays tennis.

as I said, Isner got very lucky with the draw. Not beating a top 10 player in a year is pathetic if you are a top 10 player yourself. The fact that Isner could even win a masters and reach the final again the next year shows this is a weak moment in the ATP

this final is so compelling though! Barty vs. Pliskova was much more entertaining. They at least some rallies. Hopefully this is Isner's last big result and he loses early at Wimbledon-where the bulk of other points come from outside Miami

[quote] When Serena was on mat. leave

?

Isner is putting on an Oscar-worthy performance!

Just double fault this out, Isner. My god.

This is a scandalously pitiful end!

oh poor Isner with his foot. Well if he hadn't gotten lucky against young impressive but choking FAA we would have had a real final

Isner is shameless.

Isner's Gimel has stobbed.

And the Daytime Emmy for pathetic bitch goes to...

so pissed that Isner defended most of his points.

hilarious ending

Gramps!

most of the ATP will have the week off as only the lower level Davis Cup matches will happen next weekend

Wow, what an ending!!

R518: That was a pity, but i think FAA would choke against Federer way harder than he did against Isner.

Felix has the game but he is not there yet. He was outside top 100 two months ago so it's understable

I really didn't need to see shirtless Isner and then shirtless Federer neith has a good body at all

R526 Felix would have choked but the points would have been more entertaining

LOL at Roger during the handshake: "Are you okay or what?" John is so limpid generally that I don't even think Roger *cares* if he buys the injury or not.

James Blake and Gimelstob comforting the big baby.... the former should be offering the ticket buyers refunds for having to watch that.

I liked Federer for most of his career but find myself so bored with him these days.

Federer gets so giddy when it wins it's annoying

What a bad final

[quote] James Blake and Gimelstob comforting the big baby

Who had a baby?

R524: There's an interesting challenger on the Juan Carlos Ferrero academy, there are two top 100 players, and some young promising ones (Kuhn, Davidovich or Jannik Sinner who won a challenger 80 some weeks ago and he is 17).

It would be the debut in a challenger of JCF disciple Carlos Alcaraz who is just 15

R530: He is not the problem, the problem is most of the rest of players are unable to give him a good fight

Gramps still has enough time today to take the kids to Disney World!

Who should be the next cover boy?

[quote] Gramps still has enough time today to take the kids to Disney World!

I love their snacks. Yuuuuuuuuuuum.

OP it should be Nadal as we're entering clay and he hogs those events

Perhaps Thiem should be the cover boy as he could potentially challenge Rafa on clay.

Congrats to Roger for 101. He’s played really well in March.

The audio is out! Perfect way to end this shitshow.

Give Sharapova the cover jinx so she loses all her clay points from last year and weasels off into retirement.

[quote] OP it should be Nadal as we're entering clay and he hogs those events

[quote] Perhaps Thiem should be the cover boy as he could potentially challenge Rafa on clay.

I prefer Thiem over Nadal, so Nadal will be the cover boy if I start the next thread. I didn't believe in the curse, but it apparently worked this tournament.

R541 lol how about a compromise

Haha. Basic Russian white bitch Sugarpova and brown sugar Rafa.

101.

IOI

[quote]James Blake and Gimelstob comforting the big baby

[quote]Who had a baby?

I’m sorry, but this still makes me laugh.

Felix is 5-1 against top 20 players. That hardly warrants presumption of chokery, R526/R528...it'll take more than one or two chokes to label him a choker when he's got a year and a half left before he's even out of his teens.

[quote]There's an interesting challenger on the Juan Carlos Ferrero academy

There's also a challenger at Patrick Mouratoglou's academy in France with Paire, PH Herbert, Haase, Ramos Vinolas and Krajinovic

[quote]101

R549 And Tsitsipas' brother Petros.

R550 omg that is the most embarrassing thing I have ever seen.

Looks like 101 cockroaches, R550.

I find funny because i was reading comments on a spanish web and the people were saying that everybody loves Isner because he is very likeable, and i was thinking it's obvious this people don't know DL

Yes, Isner is likeable if your preference is personality, political insight, and game style all with the variety of a dial tone.

whew...just checked Isner's twitter to see if he's posted anything maddening lately. I scrolled and came across this pic from February!!!! given all we know about how despicable and dishonest Hannity is...this seals it for me. I hope Isner never wins another title ever again and certainly no more big titles or finals

R556 That seals it for me as well. What a despicable lurp with a shitty return of serve.

R548: Nobody is calling him choker, but he obviously choke against Isner.

And it's not the same to play against Tsitsipas, a top 10 player around his age who he'll know from their junior times (and who he'll defeated in the past) in a second round than play against Federer in a Masters 1000 final.

Felix is very good, but he is human after all, and he was outside of the top 100 just two months ago (in fact he started the year with very poor results). He'll need time to adjust and gain experience.

R555: At least he is not homophobic, something that we can't say about other players

That's faint praise indeed, R559. Isner being less despicable than Sandgren or Stakhovsky is hardly laudable.

R560: Politics apart, he seems a nice person and that's what matter for some people

In fact, most american players seems heavily republican. I remember Oudin having a meltdown when Obama won in 2012

R559 Isner is not homophobic but the repub party he supports most certainly is. I don't care how nice he is, his support of Trump and Fox forever put him on my shit list

Sure, R561, that makes perfect sense. As long as someone's nice and smiling while depriving others of their basic rights, no problem? If Isner's going to publicize his alliance with Hannity, then Isner deserves the excoriation that comes with that. Much as I dislike Kyrgios' on-court antics, I'll root for him over Isner any day.

It's really okay to hate both of them simultaneously, R564.

R564: I was pretty sure my message was easy to understand but it seems it's not.

Most people who follow tennis don't follow the players instagrams or their interviews, they just watch the matches. Most people are not aware of Isner's political opinions (and probably a lot just don't care either). What they see is a nice guy, who is polite and he is loved by his fellows. People like Kyrgios or Zverev have problems with fans for their behaviour on court, that's not Isner's case and for a lot of people he is a lovable player.

I was not justifying his support of Trump

And of course, in the rest of the world nobody knows who is Sean Hannity (fortunately, we have enough with our local idiots to import such scum)

It’s pathetic how the entire draw just rolls onto it’s back for alpha dog Federer.

No wonder JMG till this date refuses to openly come out to the whole world

R567: He is not guilty the other top players failed miserably. And he is playing well, giving the level show by Djokovic and Zverev in this tournament i highly doubt any of them could defeat him in Miami

R568: Why? it's not like there are so many homophobic players (in fact most of the american players can be conservative but they don't seem homophobic) and frankly, most people have not so gay friendly coworkers. And of course, he is not an active player now.

In my opinion the reason why nobody comes out of the closet is, first, probably not that many gay players, unlike other sports there are not so many tennis players. Considering top 200 can live from tennis (and that's being generous) compare that with the number of players on any soccer league, only on the spanish first division there are way more players. And of course, it's uncharted territory, and a player coming out probably will attract unwanted attention that can be distracting. Tennis was traditionally a sport for high class, so more tendency to be conservative.

Anyway, tennis is a sport were a good player doesn't need sponsors to get money and it's an individual sport where the success rely basically on the player, so sooner or later there will be an openly gay player. And if he is decent looking and a good player he probably will get tons of sponsors

R569, Tennis players, homophobic or otherwise would be least of his problem. Who the hell in their right mind would want to deal with all the purity test by the pearl clutchers 24 *7

Isner in search of alternative facts...

Points to defend during clay court season, ATP Top 30 players

Poor Cecchinato is about to tumble far down the rankings. Same goes for Little Diego and Bad Boy Fabio who have been in shiteous form lately. Probably Goffin too.

Is Delpo healed up yet?

This part of the season is a massive opportunity for Federer, Monfils, and Coric who didn't really do anything last year. And I hope RBA can play better on clay this year too. Now there's a player who DOES openly and loudly support gay rights. I would love to see him beat Djokovic at the French Open and silence those who say he could never beat him in a slam.

[quote]I would love to see him beat Djokovic at the French Open and silence those who say he could never beat him in a slam.

I can honestly say I've never heard anyone say that, but I'm not sure why they would. They've played H2H in three matches at Slam events, and while Djokovic is 3-0, every match went four sets. Djokovic leads overall 7-3, but only two matches of the ten have been one-sided. Bautista Agut matches up very well against Djokovic.

[quote]Poor Cecchinato is about to tumble far down the rankings.

That's what people said about Isner 2 weeks ago. If Cecchinato reaches the QF in the French (360), the 3 Masters events (180 x 3), and a 500 event like Barcelona (90), that's just under 1000 points. Not that far-fetched for a guy ranked in the teens, whose best surface is clay.

I hate Isner's game. It is fucking boring and so is he. I'm sure he is a polite southern boy but he is still a deplorable.

Last clay season was the start of the rise of Tsitsipas so i thought he had to defend more points. He should be able to defend that without a problem, and probably even winning some points if he does well at a couple of masters 1000 and Roland Garros

Earlier this tournament use to get played at Hilton head island. Has any Dl Elder gay ever went to Hilton Head and attended the tournament in the past?

I love green clay

[quote]Earlier this tournament use to get played at Hilton head island

I assume you're talking about the Charleston tournament?

FAA received a wildcard for Madrid

Green clay is hideous. It looks so shabby.

Watching Lisicki vs Kenin right now, the venue looks like it was abandoned years ago.

I think green clay tends to look better in person. There's an almost mineral, glistening, textured quality to it that doesn't show up on TV. I am watching the Lisicki/Kenin match too on a big TV and Charleston looks grey and dead, rather than green and natural. But yeah I think in real life it's different. I've been to red clay tournaments and it's a lush, velvety looking surface that almost has a marble quality. On TV, Roland Garros looks like old dirt.

Also strange that no spectators are there, because the qualifying matches were incredibly well-attended. This one isn't even on the main stadium court but the secondary Althea Gibson court (featuring doubles specialist Nadia Kichenok and American Caroline Dolehide) and even other photos showed fans packing the seats on every side. Maybe it's Monday morning and more will come later.

The commentators on BTSport have just said it's really cold out there which might explain the lack of spectators. Kenin certainly looked pretty cold a minute ago, wrapped in her towel and shivering.

The ATP clay season should be interesting. Thanks, R572, for posting the clay points to defend. Federer is in decent form right now. I'm not sure how he'll do on clay given he's taken two seasons off of the surface. He grew up on clay though, so it might be like riding a bike.

I just hope it's not another Nadal domination of the clay season, but that may be the most likely result. For Nadal, that's a lot of points to defend, but he wasn't even playing that great and still got to the semis at Indian Wells. Nadal has also had cake draws lately in majors. If he gets another one at RG, he will for sure breeze to the semis at least.

For Djokovic, right now it appears he's struggling mentally yet again. He's done this many times before. After his stellar 2011 season, he began 2012 with that great 5-set victory over Nadal in Australia, but then he struggled after that, losing the French final to Nadal, Wimbledon semis to Federer, and US Open final to Murray. It could be he's just shaking off the rust from taking time off after Australia. We'll see how the clay season progresses for him.

For the younger set, I think Thiem has the best shot. He's very comfortable on clay. He had that epic match against Nadal at the US Open last year that he should have won and he recently beat Federer on slower hard courts at Indian Wells. He's got the goods to win. I don't really see any of the other young guns really having a shot. A. Zverev is good on clay, but he can't get it together for majors, and now he's even faltering at the lesser events that used to be his strength.

Monica Puig beats Sara Errani 6-0 6-1 at Charleston. Is it over for Ms Tortellini?

R583, though he's not in ATP Methuselah territory like Federer, Thiem will be 26 this year, closer to the middle-aged tennis of LostGen's Dimitrov, Raonic, Nishikori and Goffin than he is to NextGen.

Of the NextGen group I'm hoping to see some clay progress from Felix in particular.

Sara Errani hasnt had a good result for a long time.

LostGen lol

I wouldn’t totally give up on the “lost generation” one of them could still break out and win slams. No one would have thought that Stan or kerber would have won one slam much less three in there late twenties.

R588 true but it's very likely none of them would dominate or take over the game from the big 3.

Nishikori gets hurt almost every tournament, lacks power and sometimes chokes

Raonic gets injured a lot and his movement is good enough. It's laughable he was touted as the next Sampras when he first came on tour at this point

Dimitrov has all the shots but he's a headcase and chokes like crazy

Goffin's problem is similar to Nishikori's except he doesn't get hurt as much and has a worse serve

Thiem is the best bet to win a slam out of this late 20s/barely 30 group. His Indian Wells run shows he has the ability to put together a run at a big tournament with the top players present and beat them (not like Dimitrov's Cincinnati or WTF wins).

*Raonic's movement isn't good enough

The player with the consistent ability to beat Rafa on clay when both are playing well is Novak.

I agree I wouldn’t expect anybody to dominate like the big three but I don’t think it would be impossible for one of them to put together a couple of good years and win some majors. Would love to see Thiem win the French this year.

A lot of the players who've been touted as TheNextBigThing in recent years all tend to be very tall with huge serves. There was a period where tennis seemed to be going the way of basketball but there's been a switch back where less tall players have learned to nullify the power of the tall serve.

R585: Felix is good on clay and he is in seed territory on the GS which means avoiding the most dangerous players in the first round. Alex de Miñaur is other player who was born playing on red clay and the same with Jaume Munar who has the classic David Ferrer style, it's like playing against a wall (something that it's more effective on clay). Zverev is very good on clay but he defends a lot of points because he won Madrid and was finalist (and should have won) on Rome, and he seems struggling right now. The only positive thing for him on IW and Miami was the puppy he adopted. Tsitsipas is another player who is good on clay, and he will benefit of better draws now he is a top 10.

Nadal (if he is healthy) will be the dominant player, but he was not as dominant as in the past in recent seasons. Madrid is too fast for him (always was his worst clay masters 1000) but Roland Garros is another story, he feels very comfortable there

R593: There's a trend between some next gen of being very tall (not Isner's kind of tall) like Zverev, FAA or Tsitsipas, but they are not the classical player who relys on the power of their serve. In fact they are very good movers for being so tall

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Nole.

Titsy!

Misery team

Gramps and Granny Vee

Sugarpova

Puig!