The Gays & Tennis Part 49-Australian Open

Thiem is gay

Muguruza won....and Barty lost....one strange final. But it is the WTA, after all.

Road to the finals (by ranking not seed):

[bold] Kenin: [/bold]

def. #154 Trevisan 6-2 6-4

def. #142 Li 6-1 6-3

def. #35 S. Zhang 7-5 7-6(7)

def. #67 Gauff 6(5)-7 6-3 6-0

def. #78 Jabeur 6-4 6-4

def. #1 Barty 7-6(6) 7-5

[bold] Muguruza: [/bold]

def. #155 Rogers 0-6 6-1 6-0

def. #53 Tomljanovic 6-3 3-6 6-3

def. #5 Svitolina 6-1 6-2

def. #10 Bertens 6-3 6-3

def. #30 Pavlyuchenkova 7-5 6-3

def. #3 Halep 7-6(8) 7-5

The Australian coverage on Channel Nine just showed one of their commentators interviewing Thiem. They showed him a picture of Thiem and Zverev taken maybe a year or so ago, and asked "What do you think when you see this image?" Thiem got flustered, laughed, and said "Two beautiful men."

Djokovic will win 3 GSs this year!

Djokovic must be licking his lips watching that scrubby, double fault ridden tiebreak at the end of the other semi final. Both of them looking nervous, Thiem completely gassed after the Nadal match, AND Novak gets an extra day's rest? Just write his name on the trophy now.

Babos/Mladonna def. Hsieh/Strycova in doubles. With this result Hsieh reclaims the #1 ranking (knocking her partner down to #2).

Thiem was telling that his stomach problem is due to nerves and not due to injury or exhaustion

[quote]If Domi wins tonight. I will give party to each and everyone of you guys

yay party!!

Djokovic is obviously the favorite for the title but Thiem definitely has the game to beat him (he's won 4 of their last 5 matches).

I just don't think Domi will have the mental strength and determination to win, unfortunately.

Kenin and Kournikova.

^I'm normally impervious to women and children, but that is fricken adorable. Those eyes!

I never heard of Kenin until 3 days ago and usually only pay attention to the finals. She's impressive.

I semi-retired from the WTA with Martina and fully retired with Mauresomo. I'm intrigued by Conchita/Mugu, so I'll watch for that.

Where are my lesbians?

R11, Do you find Maria Sharapova sexually attractive?

Mortiz Thiem has also died his hair blonde

R12, I'm an eldergay, who just looks like a lesbian. Seriously, I have a lesbian 1st cousin, we could pass as twins! Once, they let me fill in for her on her softball team, half the team didn't even know. Fun fact, she's been the biggest breeder in the family!

Poor Anna Kournikova, who never made much of career and had to settle for having 3 of Enrique Iglesias's babies.

-Despite never winning a singles title, she reached No. 8 in the world in 2000. She achieved greater success playing doubles, where she was at times the world No. 1 player. With Martina Hingis as her partner, she won Grand Slam titles in Australia in 1999 and 2002, and the WTA Championships in 1999 and 2000. They referred to themselves as the "Spice Girls of Tennis".[5][6]

Retired at 21, 50 million dollars, never won a title. LOSER!

Anna Kournikova is the Tonya Harding of tennis!

Djokovic is the big favourite in the final but he was the big favourite the two times Wawrinka trashed him in GS finals, and Stan was known for being a choker before winning his first GS.

H2h shows there's no clear dominance and Thiem won their last two matches.

If Thiem starts the match playing well he'll have his chances

I heard that Thiem saw Djokovic at dinner and told him to order the Wuhan beef.

Thiem has a shot, but he has to win the first set. He's beaten Djokovic at a Slam, so he has the belief. The big question is whether he has anything left in the tank (cue the Thiem's ass of doom jokes).

Djokovic wasn't that impressive in his semifinal and he'll be pressured too. People say that he'll be the goat, that he'll surpass Roger and Rafa sooner or later, but the truth is winning 5 GS (which is the minimum he needs right now to be the leader) is not that easy and he knows that sooner or later there'll be a lot of contenders to the big titles, so he better put another one in the bag right now.

He'll have his options at Roland Garros, but Nadal and Thiem are really hard to defeat on clay.

If he really wants to be the goat he needs to get near of Rafa on GS as soon as possible.

Thiem really needs to start the match very focused, if he gives Nole trouble from the start he could get nervous. Wawrinka did it twice so it's not impossible

^You cannot be serious. Not impressive. Down 2 breaks and love 40, from a wounded champion? I can't imagine what it would take to impress you.

Even minus the slams there are good arguments for him to be the GOAT now. Good, not convincing. I agree with you about the 5 more or even 3 slams. If they ended up 18,19, 20. Fans could argue about it forever. Djokovic, has other superior stats. Rafa too. But, Djokovic had to go through both of them, so his wins were harder fought. 3rd billing scheduling rarely worked out in his favor. But, how many times did he play in the heat of day in NY and AU, and Fedal, played at night? Or in the rain at the French? A lot. Plus he has better end of year and Master's 1000. numbers. He deserves this title. I agree about Theim winning the first. It seems a must.

R21: Yes, two breaks behind against a man who had trouble to defeat Millman and Sandgren. This was one of Federer's worst performances on a GS in a good while, with a more challenging draw he wouldn't reach the second week

R21: all that is fantastic, but if he doesn't reach at least the same number of GS i highly doubt he'll be considered the goat, and with 4 GS less than Federer and 3 less than Nadal he is not even in the picture for that discussion

[quote]sooner or later there'll be a lot of contenders to the big titles

People have been saying this for years and Rafa, Fed and Nole still dominate the Slams. Who is going to actually step up and beat them?

R23 He is already in the discussion. He has a winning H2H against both and is able to break their dominance and win 16GSs. I am also confident that he will have the most GS and most week at no.1 by the time he retires.

A winning h2h means a lot when you have the same number of GS, but it means very little when you have four less.

R24: True, they still dominate GS, but that'll stop the moment they have to fight from the fourth round on because they are older than their competitors. Their mentality will push them to the final rounds but if they reach the final after fighting for three rounds their chances will not be that high.

And i think this year will see at least on big 3 losing before semifinals at every slam, probably more than one.

Nole still has a good couple of years in him, maybe more, but being one of the contenders is not the same than being the big favourite, and i think this will be the last year the big 3 will be the big favourites at GS.

Before the big 3 a change in dominance happened out of the blue, one week you are winning a GS and then you can not reach the finals. The big 3 dominated the GS for a decade and a half with iron fist but nothing last forever

Nadal never won the end of year, so he is not in the discussion- For me. Djokovic won more Masters 1000, is the only one to win all 9, he owns the head to head record against Fedal, against more obstacles. I'm just saying there's a good argument. Fedal doesn't get the crown automatically because he has 20 or 19. Greatness isn't just one number. We're lucky to live in this golden age, of this ridiculous sport of hitting a yellow ball back and forth. I hope we have the luxury of arguing about it for years.

I had this image of Kobe and Novak together flying a plane, high fiving each other. "Can you believe I became a gazillionaire by chasing a big orange ball?". " I know, can you believe I'm a gazillionaire because I chase a little yellow ball?" "Tell the attendant to bring more champagne and have her lock the door. I want to play an American game with you. Listen, I spy with my little eye, something, black and 12 inches long. What is it?"

"What Novak?! No, no homo. No, dude, It's the pilot's neck tie!" Then, They'd have a good laugh and fuck each other at least 3 times each.

The only thing that might help Thiem's nerves is that this won't be his first slam final. He knows he's not the favorite either so maybe he can relax. He knew he was the favorite against Zverev

R27: GS are not the only thing, but the most important thing by far, and Nole has four less than Federer. Four is a whole world, a player with four GS is someone who make an impact on tennis.

If they were with the same number of GS, Nole will be the best, he has a positive h2h against his two big rivals, he has all masters 1000 (even if he has one less than Rafa in total), he has a good bunch nitto finals, and has a lot of weeks at number one. He won't dominate all, but he will score very high in everything that's important.

But he needs to get closer in the number of GS

Fed won early GS against....let's face it: weaker opposition. Roddick, Safin, Hewitt etc. Djokovic has had to deal with both divas through all of his GS wins. Novak is the best I've ever seen.

Nole has a lot of merit, it's not easy to rebel against destiny (which was basically win only when Nadal and Federer fail), but Nole is only one year younger than Nadal, one could argue that if Nadal was winning GS nothing stopped Nole of doing the same, but the truth is he needed way more time to mature and become the player he is today.

You can only win against the competition you have, Federer is not guilty that his rivals were way less consistent (Safin defeated Djokovic the two times they played, the first time was a demolition and the second time Djokovic was the player with the better ranking, both at GS)

Nole has a lot of merit, it's not easy to rebel against destiny (which was basically win only when Nadal and Federer fail), but Nole is only one year younger than Nadal, one could argue that if Nadal was winning GS nothing stopped Nole of doing the same, but the truth is he needed way more time to mature and become the player he is today.

You can only win against the competition you have, Federer is not guilty that his rivals were way less consistent (Safin defeated Djokovic the two times they played, the first time was a demolition and the second time Djokovic was the player with the better ranking, both at GS)

There's a big difference between Thiem and Wawrinka: Thiem is consistent, and therefore can be studied. He works inside impressive but known perimeters. With Wawrinka, you never know when Stanimal will appear. Thiem doesn't have the same element of shock and awe.

No, but he has a way better h2h against the big 3 than Wawrinka.

Wawrinka was impressive in his first three finals but Nadal demolished him in their RG final. When Wawrinka is on the zone he gives Nole a lot of trouble (not that much against Nadal and Federer)

I'm Novak' biggest fan and even I'm bored with the tennis. I purposely got up in the middle of the night to watch his matches and found myself changing channels or falling asleep. Except for Lil' Diego, and that was due to his adorableness. If he had a foreskin he'd be perfect!

For me, the match of the tournament was Krygios/Kachenov. I tuned in to that thinking there could be fisticuffs. They both played amazing and Nick was 90 mature. His effort never dropped. He's electric, You can't help but pull for the guy, and Australia for the win. I hope he can keep it up. He's 24. Enough already with the psycho dramas.

Nick doesn't have a coach, but apparently needs 20 friends to give him adulation and perform on command. It seems desperate and pathetic. Jesus. Can't you win a match on your own, Mr. I don't need a coach? It wouldn't be so noteworthy if not for all his comments about Djokovic. Also,it's obvious he was bullied for being a fat kid with a small dick ( I imagine. verificata needed). And the hair thing, and I'm SO different. Now he's a vegan because of all the dead animals.

Let's take a poll of all tennis fans in the world. True or False.

Q. To come back from 2 breaks down against Federer and win the set is impressive under any circumstances known, in this sport?

R29. Your point about 4 slams being its own career, is an ACE right down the middle. That is an excellent argument.

similar to R3 , men's road to the final

[bold] Djokovic [/bold]

def. #37 Struff 7-6(5) 6-2 2-6 6-1

def. #146 Ito 6-1 6-4 6-2

def. #71 Nishioka 6-3 6-2 6-2

def. #14 Schwartzman 6-3 6-4 6-4

def. #35 Raonic 6-4 6-3 7-6(1)

def. #3 Federer 7-6(1) 6-4 6-3

[bold] Thiem [/bold]

def. #44 Mannarino 6-3 7-5 6-2

def. #140 Bolt 6-2 5-7 6(5)-7 6-1 6-2

def. #34 Fritz 6-2 6-4 6(5)-7 6-4

def. #10 Monfils 6-2 6-4 6-4

def. #1 Nadal 7-6(3) 7-6(4) 4-6 7-6(6)

def. #7 Zverev 3-6 6-4 7-6(5) 7-6(4)

R36: What impressed me was not the fact that he was able to come back, it was the fact that he was completely dominated at the beginning of the match.

It was like he expected Federer to be half dead and don't need to put that much effort

Let's be honest, this is the worst Federer in quite some time. He struggled against low tier players and it was pretty clear from the beginning of the tournament that his chances were close to zero.

It was a big surprise he was able to give Djokovic a fight

R39, Djokovic's game places a big emphasis on energy conservation. If an opponent plays above the level he is expecting, he wakes up and ups his level. Federer absolutely did play better than anyone expected, but he was "dominating" a Djokovic in sleep mode.

The most convincing Djokovic goat claim...

Are we just randomly adding threads now? I don't see that part 48 got paywalled and it's not at 400 replies yet, nor is there any mention of it by this thread's OP...

R41, LOL, you confused me for way too long than I'd like to admit.

I always find it surprising that the homogenization of the surfaces isn't brought up more. There has been a concerted effort over the years to slow down the surfaces, both the hardcourts and the grass, in order to generate more rallies. The clay has remained the same. This has undoubtedly contributed to the dominance of the baseliners/defenders/marathon men of the sport.

well we saw the consequences of the slowing down of Wimbledon right away. In 2002 the final was Hewitt vs. Nalbandian lol both baseliners.

I like the idea of contrasting surfaces. I agree red clay should be very slow but I want grass fast. I want more of a difference between the USO and AO hardcourts too.

Newport Beach results:

Townsend def. Vandeweghe 1-6 6-1 6-1

R42 The other is paywalled. And OP already linked this thread shortly before that one hit 300 mark, which is usually the time tennis threads get paywalled.

Kenin really mixing up her groundies with slices and drop shots thrown in testing Muguruza's consistency and movement

Bethanie Mattek Sands looks like Justin Bieber in drag tonight.

Muguruza first set 6-4 had chances to make it easier though

Kenin having trouble with Muguruza's power

R14 Kournikova beat Monica Seles, Lindsay Davenport, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Conchita Martinez, and Mirjana Lucic on her way to the Miami Open final in 1997. She eventually took a set off Venus but lost the final. She got injured at the height of her career and was retired at age 21.

Kenin (also 21) this week has only faced one seeded player, but history will always show that she was a GS finalist and Kournikova was not. This is why I think we put too much focus on the majors, or who has the most slams, etc.

I know she never won a title and was always more famous for her looks, but Kournikova was one of the top players in arguably the most competitive era in womens tennis. She had great movement at a time where the courts were much faster, and an awesome net game.

Kenin playing better and Muguruza much worse

Kenin playing better and Muguruza much worse

Kournikova developed a back issue that was so painful she couldn't keep playing. She didn't want to stop. It affected her serve too and along with Dementieva she became 1 of the OG double fault queens of WTA. I think I remember in 2002/3 at the AO she hit over 20 dfs in 1 match

Much worse, r54. She managed thirty-one (31!!) double faults in her 2nd-round match at the AO in 1999. Despite her best efforts, Kournikova still won the match against Saeki.

Muguruza at 2-2 in the 3rd set had 0-40 on Kenin's serve. Kenin played well to hold. Then Muguruza had 40-15 in her own service game but made some poor errors to get broken.

Oh, and the official reason for all the double faulting was a thumb injury the forced her to change her serving grip.

alexzverev123 Tennismatches come and go but friendship stays for ever. It was an amazing battle last night and I already can’t wait for the next one. Always great sharing the court with you @domithiem. Well done and good luck in the final. But this is just the beginning and I’m ready for what’s ahead 💪🏽💪🏽

So Kenin wins her first major (and also her first tournament?). I can’t see her being a one-slam wonder, though.

OMFG Kenin is now a slam champ

complete collapse from Muguruza especially the serve

I wonder how many more first time slam winners we'll have this year. It's ridiculous at this point

Kenin won! Just like I said she should. More consistent, more variety and better movement.

She is a bulldog.

Garbiñe was on her old self and wasted a lot of opportunities.

Kenins is my less favourite new champion, i don't like her game and she is annoying as hell on court. I pray fro Andreescu to come back healthy as soon as possible

Kenin wins on a Muguruza double-fault. Kenin played well, but Muguruza gave away a ton of free points. Credit to Kenin. She is like a backboard and made Muguruza play a ton of balls. Kenin had some spectacular defensive play. Kenin also did something that more players need to do against the big hitters who aren't the best movers--she made Muguruza move. Muguruza on the move is just an average-ish player. Serena Williams has become like that, which is why she can't get to Slam #24.

Still, Kenin as a Slam champ? The WTA's woes continue.

[quote] think I remember in 2002/3 at the AO she hit over 20 dfs in 1 match

she had 31 double faults in a match against Miho Saeki at Austalian Open 1999. And she won the match.

[quote]I wonder how many more first time slam winners we'll have this year.

Four if Meghan keeps showing up to my matches.

R59 no it's Kenin's 4th tournament. She won Hobart, Mallorca and Guangzhou all last year

who would have thought Kenin would win a slam before t he likes of Pliskova, Keys, Bencic and Sabalenka?

Keys fucking sucks.

It really is crazy how there are literally about 25 likely winners of every slam on the WTA side now compared to 2-3 on ATP. Hope Thiem can change that tomorrow though

How long is this lady going to drone on?

Garbage is disappointed as hell

Sofia's so cute. I predict she'll win another Slam before any other American woman does.

Muguruza is crushed. Hey, she’s crushed others’ dreams in finals.

I think Kenin is a little lezzie. Listen to that voice.

R72: I doubt it, Anisimova and Gauff are way better players than her

Mugurutha really gave away that match. I do really like her, though. she is one of the most gracious losers ever. Very classy lady.

And I think Muguruza is a big lezzie, r73.

Assuming Wozniacki sticks to her plan and retires, here are all the active WTA slam champs and year they won first slam:

Serena-1999

Venus-2000

Sharapova-2004

Kuznetsova-2004

Clijsters (if she does actually come back)-2005

Kvitova-2011

Stosur-2011

Azarenka-2012

Kerber-2016

Muguruza-2016

Ostapenko-2017

Stephens-2017

Halep-2018

Osaka-2018

Barty-2019

Andreescu-2019

Kenin-2020

I think that's 17 which has to be a record but there's still room for more as there are a bunch of active slam finalists too:

Zvonareva (injured but plans on returning in a few weeks), Errani (working her way back up challengers), Lisicki (currently out with mono), Bouchard, Pliskova, Keys and Vondrousova.

I woke up for this?

In spite of Margaret Court's insistence, there is no evidence of any lesbianism in the WTA, is there? Stoser aside, anyone?

I will be a fan of any out of the closet homo, if any existed.

I don't even think there are lesbians on this thread. "Sofia is cute" is the most sexualized comment you'll hear here. Anytime the boys talk about the women the board goes silent. "Is Maria Sharapova sexually attractive?" I have no idea what a lez might think.

Kenin is now new American no. 1. She will also Preston USA in Tokyo Olympics

Kenin is tenacious, saves her best tennis on big points. Other American players have bigger weapons but she's mentally tougher than all of them. I'm happy for her.

Any scuttlebutt on Kenin's father? I'm hoping he's not in the same mold as papa Dokic, Lucic, Pierce, et al.

Just last week in Adelaide she was cruised 6-3,6-0 by confident Collins

Just last week in Adelaide she was cruised 6-3,6-0 by confident Collins

I meant crushed not cruised. Sorry

Women are boring.

Let's play fuck/marry/ kill- ATP 100 Singles only.

Fuck-Berrettini Marry-Djokovic Kill- Sanguine

runner up for fucking: Salvatore Caruso number 94

Fuck : Sasha

Marry Domi

Kill Mirka

Fuck Feliciano Lopez. Marry Tsonga. Kill Sandgren.

R78: Are you kidding? There must be at least 5 openly lesbian players, and Alison Van Uytvank and Greet Minnen are a couple (and if they keep playing like they are doing lately Greet will be the higher ranking player of the couple pretty soon)

Fuck - Damir Dzhumur Marry - Richard Gasquet Kill - Novak

Fuck: Stan

Marry: Delpo

Kill: Zverev

r88, I was trying to provoke reaction due to boredom. And, I want to know who to support when I watch WTA. The one who are out, not suspected.

Thanks for responding, feel free to play fuck marry kill with the ladies of your choice!

You know I had a taste of Garbine's snatch, don't you? Now I call her Munch-her-ruga.

r90. Good move, snagging Delpo. I'm already thinking about divorcing Novak. I wasn't thinking about how tiresome it would be to first lady of Serbia. It would be better to live in Argentina and Miami. Tranquilo.

Conchita caused a scandal in her heyday because her girlfriend would massage her in the locker room and it made some of the girls uncomfortable.

Fuck--Berrentini

Marry--Tsonga

Kill--Nadal

Now, I'm thinking about all that beef in Argentina. I couldn't do it. I'd rather do the insane food thing with Novak. If a Slovakian slut can be varist letty, how hard could it be?

Fuck: Fognini

Marry: Tsonga

Kill: Sandgren

Tsonga WOULD be a good husband. Why? I have no idea. Good choice.

R94: What? I followed tennis back in the day and i don't remember anything like that. And Conchita always was very discreet with her private life

^I've been proven wrong before. I remember this happening during her Wimbledon run. It was a published story, this was before internet. Maybe it was British Rag gossip? She was always "out" correct?

it depends of what you understand for Out. She never talked about her sexual orientation as far as i know

Papi!

Wasn't she dating Louise Pleming when she won Wimbledon? Who, by the way, has done a great job in the commentary booth during this slam.

There were rumours a year or two ago about Garbine and Caroline Garcia but I think it was more just fun gossip. And I don't think Garcia's father would let her out of his sight anyway lol.

France totally dominated the boys competition, the winner, the runner up, one of the semifinalists and one quarterfinalist.

The girls competition was won by Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva from Andorra (who usually plays and trains in Spain). She is only 14 yo (and she was not even the 14 y o with best ranking, because Eala and Fruhvirtova were ahead of her in the ranking, both did a poor singles tournament, but a very good doubles one, Fruhvirtova reached semifinalas, and the philipine won the tournament)

Currently watching Nikola Mektic in the mixed doubles final. Another Croatian hottie.

Andorra!

It's curious that there are so many handsome players right now. In the past the number of hotties were very low

Pleming’s bias for Muguruza was so obnoxious I put the TV on mute. Knowing she was rooting for her ex’s charge explains it. But it was still obnoxious.

R107 can't handle hunks.

His son is better looking than his father fortunately for him

R108 Here in Australia it was Alicia Molik doing the final (along with Sam Smith and Jim Courier). Louise has mostly been doing smaller matches, doubles and outside courts etc.

r107, I know. No one even picked Tsitsipas or Kyrgios or Monfils! I didn't pick Monfils because I thought he'd be too hot to handle.

France has always had amazing junior players. Gael Monfils and Richard Gasquet were supposed to become the two best players in the world considering how dominant they were as juniors, huge expectations. Hopefully one of this new crop can push through and do better.

R112 Nobody even picked King Borna Coric! We truly are blessed with a lot of eye candy on the tour right now. Back in the day it was only Mark Philippoussis, Arnaud Clement (heartthrob!), Pat Rafter, Marat Safin, and Marcelos Rios. Roddick was cute too for a bit.

Fuck--Mmoh Marry-Berrettini Kill-Young

Back in the day, I only had eyes for Thomas Enqvist.

I think Borna is the most handsome man on atp

R113: France always produce good juniors, and in fact they have 3 good players born in 2003 too (Mpetshi Perricard, Westphal and Sadaoui). 2003 seems to be a pretty good year with Rune, Mochizuki, Medjedovic or Nardi. And the USA has its own bunch with Damm, Kodat, Blanch, Bernard and Mayo.

But the only one who had great results outside of juniors is Carlos Alcaraz, who could reach top 400 tomorrow if he wins his third 15k tournament of the year. He was asked by transworld sport what is his objective for this year and he said that it would be very difficult but he wanted to be on Wimbledon's qualifications, which would mean being near top 200 in just five months. Very difficult, but i think the US Open qualification ore doable, Sinner did something similar last year

No Tommy Paul has replaced Borna as the most handsome man on atp.

I loved Clement too. He was so weird and sexy, the exact opposite of Nadal.

So what about CoCo Gauff now? More endorsements for a nothing player?

R119. what are you talking about? She is top 50 with 15 yo, and she reach the fourth round in two of the three GS she played. And of course she already won a tournament.

Of course there'll be more endorsements, she is the best teenage player in ages

I see people all over social media saying this is awful for womens tennis. Sure it's yet another new slam champ but it's not like Kenin is some random scrub that won. She is a talented young player who has beaten top players in the past year on her rise in the rankings. Dont know if she will flop cause she has too much fight in her to just crumble in match in my opinion.

Louise Pleming has that big head Kristien Wiig thing from SNL. As a commentator, when she was paired with Fred Stolle at the old Hopman Cup he would IGNORE her rudely, even if she asked him a direct question. He'd answer whoever the other male commentator was.

R121: Yes, she is not a scrub, but she is not superstar material either. I didn't see any complaining when Osaka or Andreescu won their GS, but i think Kenin lack of charm has something to do with that

R123 true. She is abrasive and when interviewed she comes off like a robot pretending to be a human, but some people are like that. Shes just not very charismatic.

Sometimes you don't need that much charisma outside the court if you are charismatic on court. Nadal and Federer are not exactly interesting in interviews (maybe because they are too worried to protect their brand) but their game attracts a lot of people. Kenin seems not interesting in any way, but maybe it's because all her life is tennis (like some people said here). I remember watching videos of her with 8 or 9 years old.

Curiously she didn't follow the path of other child prodigies because by the age of 12 there were a lot of better players than her (in fact she was far from being the best american player of her age). She then had a good junior career, but being outside the spotlight probably helped her

Osaka is a small-voiced dullard... wtf are people talking about, charm?

Good God Kenin - an American - just won a slam, only the 2nd non Williams sister since Jen Cap. She took that match. Her duel with Coco was the hardest hitting women's match at the AO.

Well there goes Granny Venus' Olympic dreams. The only way she's getting to Tokyo is if the Fed Cup plane crashes or she gets a pity wild card.

^LOL. R127. Some people around here are ridiculous. I'd love to see the webcams of the critics here, to suddenly turn on and reveal what REAL tennis experts look like.

The great thing about the WTA is that literally anyone can win a slam, while on the ATP top twenty players are peeing their pants every time they see one of the big 3 in the locker room. Why are the women so fearless and the men such pussies?

Do you think players are afraid of Federer anymore? Joker and Rafa, yes, but I think guys know how to beat Gramps now, especially on a hard court.

I think with Federer these days, it's much more about which Roger you're going to get. If he's on, he still inspires fear. I think he got through Millman and Sangren because there was still some of that intimidation factor of, "Oh my God, I might beat Roger Federer!"

R130 There is nothing great about players being inconsistent.

R127: I doubt it because any of them is a hard hitter by any means

Roger wants that OL Gold Medal in Tokyo. They've certainly done everything to make it easier for him. No best of 5 matches, even in the final - a stupid switch. The court will be a lightning fast hard court. Now didn't he have to play Davis Cup in the last Olympic cycle to qualify? Or are they counting Laver Cup? Ridiculous.

R131: Young players are not afraid of any of them. Unlike the previous generations they didn't have years and years of bashing till they reach the level to defeat them (only to fail due to mental collapse). Even there are only a couple of nextgen who have wins against all the big three (i think only Tsitsipas and Zverev), most of them have at least a victory against one of them.

They are not challenging them at GS, but that's because they are not reaching the final stages. Most of them are too inconsistent when they play at the best of 5 sets.

The moment all the players with potential start to reach at least fourth round it will be the end of the big 3 GS wins, because having to work for every victory is a bit too much when you are not that young. A cake draw or top players underperforming is the best way to ensure a big 3 winning .

Anyway, that day doesn't seem to be near, most young players with potential to be top players failed big time in the first rounds once again

Does the fact that most matches are no longer best of five contribute to the lack of preparation of the younger players and the longevity of the big 3? Should best of five be brought back for most tournaments?

I doubt they want that.

They simply need to learn to keep their concentration and motivation.

And it's not that difficult, Zverev did a good job this time when he was in the past the one who make matches he was in total control last till the fifth set.

You need to learn to end the matches as fast as you can because you could pay that extra effort in the final rounds

F: Monfils M: FAA K: Medvedev

Come ON...Kill has to be Kyrgios all day long and in every combination.

R139 . Worth waiting for!

R140, I think his performance these 2 weeks earned him a well deserved, temporary pardon from the Tennis wardens.

He seems friendly with Sandgren, R142...so not really. But I am a Nole fan, so Kyrgios has little chance of redeeming himself in my eyes anyway.

Having watched Kenin over the last year, I think she's solid and scrappy but I'm not sure if she's multi-slam material. She doesn't really have any weapons at this time. Her backhand is a world class shot but not very powerful. Until Muguruza started missing and not moving so great in the 2nd and 3rd sets, she was controlling the points. Kenin has variety which I like but can see her getting hit off the court by power players who are having a consistent day.

I do look forward to Andreescu vs. Kenin though. They'll be hacking each other to death with groundstroke variety.

Kyrgios seems to get along with the American, Canadian and British players. From Sock to FAA to Murray, Kyrgios likes them all

Wonder how Kenin would have fared against Halep. In a lot of ways their games are very similar.

Halep hits harder than Kenin but Kenin has more variety

speaking of Sock, he's unranked but playing the New York Open next week

I'm hoping Thiem isn't so nervous tonight. He knows he's not the favorite and this isn't his first slam final. He knew he was supposed to win against Zverev. He seemed more "free" playing against Nadal. Yes he stumbled in that match too a few times and somehow was more consistent in the tiebreaks lol but that should give him confidence.

At least Thiem is putting himself in the conversation. From winning Indian Wells to the RG final and now AO, Thiem is on the rise.

The players Kyrgios dislikes the most seem to be Djokovic, Nadal (though maybe not so much now as their handshake the other day was cordial) and he HATES Verdasco lol

To be honest, Verdasco is very hateable.

I find very curious that Kyrgios seems to love CSN, he talked several times about how he would love to play doubles with her

I doubt that he and Sandgren are all that close, R143.

^OMG, He hates Trump AND he's going vegan. I thought I would just hate fuck him, now I might have to marry him.

Thiem reaches a career high #3 with his AO performance, overtaking Federer.

Well, good night folks. I have to get up at 3:30 in the morning, so it's getting time for bed.

Great, see you then, R155.

draws for next week out

Pune is practically challenger level!!! #1 seed Paire is the only player in the top 60 (and his rank is #21). Good chance for someone different to win a title though if he falls.

Cordoba features a solid field with Schwartzman, Pella, Garin, Cuevas, Verdasco and other clay lovers

Montpellier has the best field with Monfils, Goffin, Shapovalov, Dimitrov, FAA, PCB and plenty of tough non-seeds

Thiem team!

R128 the real obstacle for her is Alison Riske and Madison Keys. Kenin and Serena were already in first and second place. I don’t think she’ll make it though. It’s unfortunate that for 3 years or so the American girls were basically doing nothing (outside of Sloane’s random slam win, which still never put her as high as Venus that year), and all of a sudden with her dip in form and health they have suddenly risen from nowhere. Alison in particular had been flopping for 10 years lol.

I wonder if Call Me Coco and Team 8 will pull some fuckery to allow her in though.

R157 I see Tsonga is too injured to defend his title in Montpellier. Poor guy probably had the best chance at pulling a Marin Cilic (and winning a slam in this era with a little luck), he has beaten all of the big 3/4 in slams, even in the latter rounds. But his health has really let him down. Seems like one step forward, two steps back.

F: Wawrinka M: Berrettini K: Querrey

Fuck Kim Davis

Marry Kim Clijsters

Kill Kim Sears

Fuck: Feli Lopez; Marry: Borna Coric; Kill: John Isner

Fuck: Martina Navratilova Marry: Illana Kloss Kill: Margaret Court Smith

Thiem's dad Wolfgang sheds on the Muster split. 'For me the most important thing is that the coach understands what the player needs and not that the coach wants to make a copy of himself'

'If you have someone who says too much, who is too much into it, then it doesn't work'

Djokovic won in straight sets.

Salinsbury/Ram won double final

Djokovic not giving an inch and broke in Thiem's opening service game

already 3-0.

Thiem might be a bit tired and Djokovic is ready to go

Thiem on the board but a tough hold. He's fit but I wonder if he'll be able to compete should Djokovic maintain this level. Djokovic literally gets to EVERYTHING.

I think Thiem should stop hitting so much to the Djokovic backhand. The forehand usually has more of a chance of breaking down

Yes, this version of Djokovic is quite frightening. Things might turn, but I doubt it.

Thiem really fucked himself with that bizarre match against Bolt of all people. No reason why he should have had to work so hard there.

another tough hold. Thiem had 40-0 only to go to deuce

Djokovic has brought his A game and Thiem hasn't brought his, so hard to see this ending with anything but a Nole victory unless something drastic happens...

back on serve!

Djokovic gave away 2 forehand errors, 1 backhand error and Thiem played 1 great point ending with a winner.

Thiem breaks back!

Well, well,we’ll. There’s a turn-up for the books.

Thiem ANOTHER tough hold. He hasn't had an easy service game yet

Djokovic getting mad that some fans are yelling "out" on his shots

the crowd not rooting for him again except the Serbian bunch

4-4 in the first set and Djokovic has already screamed "shut the fuck up" at the crowd.

And his little stan on here wonders why nobody likes him?

One other thing that might be getting under Djokovic’s skin is the crowd’s wild roar whenever Thiem makes a winning play. Not much loved, Djokovic.

Thiem 4-5 in a set isn't the time for wild errors

omg what a botched put away

Thiem living dangerously. I guess that's what Kiki liked in him?

double fault to end the set

lol

Thiem breaks first in the second set...how long can he maintain that?

Djokovic is getting a bit shaky mentally. He is FOREVER bothered that he's rarely the crowd favorite. You'd think he'd just let it go by now and embrace the villain role but he can't. His ego is too big.

I do think more tennis fans want a new male slam winner than commentators are aware of though. There are plenty of stans for the big 3 but not all of us.

have to say Safin, Ivanisevic and Massu have all aged well in the face. Their bodies look average these days but all still handsome and pretty youthful looking. Moya too

Thiem has consistently missed his down-the-line backhand attempts tonight

Two time violations and Djokovic is broken. He makes some comments and taps the umpire's foot at the change of ends. He better be careful here.

The time ti strike is NOW Dominic.

oop! Like Nadal, DJokovic is NOT happy with the stricter time enforcement at this AO

1 set all

in the second set Thiem was able to shorten points more.

Touching the umpire is a physical intimation. Big 4 are just bunch of big bullies . strict action need to be taken

Thiem desperately needs to stop going for the BHDTL. Every other shot is working for him.

lol DJokovic fist pumping as Thiem misses an easy put away

No, he needs the DTL shots, both forehand and backhand. He can’t just go cross court and hope that Djokovic misses.

early break!

Thiem's down-the-line forehand is working. Really it's the down-the-line backhand. He's late on it consistently tonight

I'm sure Djokovic has a big reserve of energy but he looks exhausted in a way

Thiem has found his backhand down the line!

double break wtf

Djokovic seems drained like Muguruza

Wow! Novak walked through the draw. It's only fitting that he have to go 5. This could get interesting.

4-0 wow

Djokovic sent his team to get a new drink

The Wuhan Beef is kicking in.

what the hell is "energy gel"?

really all Thiem has to do now is just run him side to side. It's cruel but it would be dumb to let Djokovic into the match now

R205 It's this weird gel you can buy in little sachets from supplement shops or the health food section of the supermarket. They supposedly replenish electrolytes and give energy and other benefits.

I tried one once and it just made me shit.

Djokovic has never been 2 sets to 1 down in an AO final before - will he start to feel the pressure?

Bye Thiem.

Not that fast.

This will depend of how Thiem start the fifth set

Damn. I was hoping for Thiem to win. He's been shaky since the middle of the 4th. Djokovic in control with a break in the 5th. I'd be shocked if Thiem pulls this out.

Thiem lost belief when he failed to convert the break point in the fourth, it’s all been downhill since then...

#17 and world no.1 again!

Boobs out!

Nole is a bloody pervert. No one likes him

I am so sick of big 4

Novak Djokovic back to number one tomorrow.

And he is not defending much till... Madrid.

Novak Djokovic back to number one tomorrow.

And he is not defending much till... Madrid.

Credit to Thiem for not folding after he lost the 1st set on a double fault, but he really needed to slam the door shut when Djokovic went on his walkabout. And credit to Djokovic for working his way back into that match when things were looking bleak for him.

Thiem needs an outside coach.

Woldgang is nothing but a moocher

Thiem needs an outside coach.

Woldgang is nothing but a moocher

[quote]I am so sick of big 4

I love you R216 💓💓💓💓💓

I was so close.

I hope Thiem wins Roland Garros, he deserve to have a GS

-- New ATP Top 10

1. Djokovic (+1)

2. Nadal (-1)

3. Federer

4. Thiem (+1)

5. Medvedev (-1)

6. Tsitsipas

7. Zverev

8. Berrettini

9. Monfils

10 Goffin

R222, Where is your husband? Why we never hear about Andy and Jamie's dad? I think you are a lesbian

Remember when Nole was injured, calling down the doctor, and took multiple breaks off court when Thiem was beating him? I wonder what happened to that in the last two sets....

Thiem must be pissed that Novak has tried this against him twice now (after he ran off during the RG semi final because Thiem was winning that too).

Whenever Nole is in trouble he becomes handicapped

Whatever magic pill they gave to Djokovic after 3rd set, I hope they share it with Wuhan coronavirus patients.

I'm just like Noah Rubin now. I hate tennis.

Djokovic almost always uses bullshit tactics when he is losing in a match.

If any of you Dlers meet Theim at Indianwells then kindly tell him in a polite words that he needs to mange his schedule carefully

Oh geez, the Thiem love is what it is, but he has proven why at 26 he has not won a Slam. He's not an instinctive player. He has to grind out every shot, he hits back and forth with power and hopes the opponent will miss. His "big shots" are only to sense the other player is slightly out of position and make huge shots that either seem brilliant are miss. To do that for 5 sets against top players requires incredible emotional calm and mental strength that's too much for many to ask under the spotlight and television focus and pressure.

Every single multi-Slam winner has that extra sense of the court that made them fit the game so well. It's not just "the big 4" (and Thiem is # 4, by the way ; Andy is done). It has always been this way with Becker, Agassi, Edberg, Sampras, McEnroe, Lendl, Connors and so on. When those pure talents are not present you see the Couriers, Changs and Roddicks can get 1 or a few. Thiem would never get more than Courier, Chang or Roddick did. He doesn't have it.

And all of the Nole bashing is so childish. He's a perv. He was misusing injury timeouts: Really? You know this how? On a professional level for those who worked on the tour and had interactions with the players, my memory over many years was that Novak is better to ordinary people than most, which is not the norm for the Top 10. And while I had little interaction with Thiem, what little I had in the past did not impress me, and my colleagues tell me he's a diva to the highest degree. I have no idea what they do off the court. I have seen the asses of asses (Jimmy Connor, naming that name) and those that are just socially inept and end up offending people.

Novak won because he was the better player over 5 sets. He earned it. And I don't see him as the villain that some do, from having had to deal with him professionally.

I hope Djokovic wins all 4 slams this year.

[quote] what little I had in the past did not impress me, and my colleagues tell me he's a diva to the highest degree

That is totally made up story by a Nole fan or a rabid domi haters. Nole may be panderer off the court to some fans but on court he is a totally bully

Domi may be shy or probably a little standoffish to the fans but he is certainly not a diva. You nole fan bois need to come up with better lies

Where the fuck is Bill Clinton when you need him?

R232: Not going to happen

Should not have answered on my phone. That "brilliant are miss" comment was that Thiem just slugs away and when they hit they look brilliant but they can become spectacular misses.

And to say Novak was faking an injury and got a "magic pill" is just absurd, even as a joke. I played tennis at the university level and cannot imagine how they do it at a slam. Many players have nagging but injuries and don't take time outs when they legitimately could within the rules. Do you have any idea how easy it is to have a muscle pull, tear or even a slight sprain? Most players don't want to show that because it gives the opponent confidence. Novak could have gone off the court to change his shorts if he just wanted a mental break. If he needed some support and it gave him a chance to refocus, there is nothing wrong with that. Thiem has done the same many many times. Speculating about this is just sour grapes.

The problem with Nole injury is not that it was fake but it was clearly to stop the match when he was losing. And it's not the first time

There's so much butt-hurt in this thread and you would hope that would come from a night succumbing to the Vesuvius of passion that is about to erupt from them!

R238 = Slobodan Milosevic

I couldn't post yesterday, so here is the reason I mentioned Kyrgios and Sandgren's (newfound?) friendship, R152

From the article: "Nick Kyrgios has found a new best friend in quarter-finalist Tennys Sandgren and we’re tipping their celebration was on a different level."

I love Novak. I love him as a player and a person (not sexually) and I want him to be the unqualified GOAT.

What an amazing top 10 we have to enjoy and F/M/K! I was SHOCKED to see Monfils at 9.

KB supported ND during his public humiliation/injury. McEnroe wrote him off like Tiger Woods.

Losing a friend is a fucking trauma and to perform the way he did, is truly amazing. They're all in planes and helicopters all the time in bad weather. I can't imagine what it must be like to hug your kids at night and think about your friend, his family and how lucky you are to be alive. And on the day of the accident some of can smell his evil from a mile aways, Jesus Christ, he's been dead for hours, get on with it already. Maudlin, on the day of his friend's death. I too smell evil from a mile away. My cat died and I needed 2 days off work. OMG I'm such a loser.

GS Final, he hadn't been tested, his hormones went wild, blood sugar?, adrenaline rush? some fucking thing. You could see it in the worry of the coaches, they knew that wasn't back strain or emotions, it was biochemical. Some of you see it as evil manipulation. Remind of us how he used to retire all the time. Which, BTW was before gluten allergy. He changed his diet and stopped retiring. The gluten allergies caused breathing problems, when you can't get air weird things happen in your body. These are facts.

Djokovic had to push closet-case Nadal and IMG's biggest client out of the way to snatch a GS title. He then had to work for 3 more years for the next one. He has proven as a smarter, more authentic man than anyone I can think of. His biggest flawis the most basic human need and the people who call it out are immature bullies like Kyrgios, who inside are fat kids with small dicks, I imagine, verificata desired.

Why can't he embrace being a villian? Because he's not a fucking villain, you morons. Imagine now that I scream at you in Serbian- Now you can all suck my dick!

Hi Marin Wajda. It was nice to see you on DL

However no one was buying Nole's Kobe Mary shit .

New career highs on ATP Top 100

15. Rublev

28. Hurkacz

31. Garín

70. Tommy Paul

89. Gerasimov

92. Dennis Novak

R231 "Novak is better to ordinary people than most"?

Hmm... like when he screamed at the crowd to shut the fuck up during this match? Or yelled at the ballkids after getting a time violation (trying to make it seem like their fault and not his for bouncing the ball endlessly?)? Physically touching the umpire and insulting him?

He seems like a real gent.

I wish Andy Murray were back. Good guy if miserable.

Wasn't Djokovic booed by the crowd today? Considering the large Serbian turnout that's quite telling.

r244, I've seen Novak and all of the major players at all of the slams for years. I've posed on this board before it. I'm talking about the sum total of his behaviour in the day to day workings on the tour and for another period for years that I observed him while working at one of the slams. And you can believe it or not, but as players go, I'm telling you, from what I observed day to day, he is, probably 2nd to Nadal of today's top 50, if we're talking about the players who are kind to the staff at the tournaments, the other players, the volunteers, the ball kids etc., and who is not all about his ego. You're taking select incidents and sweeping judgments. Everyone thinks Stefan Edberg and Federer are/were saintly. They're not, especially off camera. Edberg got his reputation because he was stoic and uncomfortable speaking. He had his moments of unflattering behaviour. They all do.

And almost every tennis player, including Federer and Thiem, have had their outbursts on court. Novak was wrong with the time violation. He pushes it. The difference is, he gets called on it more than Rafa and others do. And he did it earlier in the match and the tournament if anyone was watching but only got called on it and had a serve taken away on a critical point. All of the players are frustrated when the rules are not enforced even-handedly and sometimes seem to come out of nowhere without warning. But he was wrong, deserved the violation, and shouldn't have lost his cool.

But if you think he was such a villain today, you're overreacting and being oversensitive. The ball kids know the players aren't mad at them. They're not idiots. As for the umpire, I totally agree with Novak about the "touching his shoe" incident. The rule is about abuse. We'll see how it goes when it's applied, but he didn't get a warning for it. See the link. But as for the crowd, Thiem supporters repeatedly yelled while Novak was serving. That was his issue. Again, see the link. Even the umpire had to stop it, though he was slow to do it. Should Noval have remained cooler? Sure. Does it undo his entire character the way he is day to day? No.

We get it. You hate him and are mad that he won. I don't see the players as heroes or saints. All of the top 100 players are overpaid if we go by what they contribute to the world. They're pampered, entitled, and have massive egos. They're also human. And I didn't make up the story about Thiem, and I'd bet money that Muster's comments about Thiem reflect much of what I've seen and heard. Thiem lost today. Get over it.

Thank you, R247. It seemed obvious that you were discussing everyday behavior. During this particular tournament, in fact, all of the Big Three engaged in iffy, intimidating conduct on-court--think of Federer walking towards the the lines person who had reported him for his (very audible) obscenity and giving her a stare, or Rafa stopping play to seek out a tour official and place his hand on his shoulder in an endless attempt to re-litigate a time violation. They're all under incredible stress during matches.

I can attest to what R247 just said: he was spilling the beans on the ATP tour (and WTA too I think) as an insider wayyyy back in The Gays & Tennis part n where n < 9.

R247, were you the one who reported that young Grigor would usually chat with the other players but would then coyly shut up when then 'girlfriend' Maria Sharapova would enter the locker room?

I can't stand Novak - I admit he is a great champion - but his game is very grinding and tedious. The tits out shit is just pathetic. I mean c'mon.

And his using of Kobe Bryant's death to increase his own likability was so disgusting

R250, is fair enough. R251 is legit if it's based on butt-hurt hyperbole or pointless bitchery. But Honestly, If that was your understanding of the experience there is something wrong with you and you should someone about it.

Novak gets the most abuse from fans - cheering his misses and DFs - than any other top player, all for the crime of not being Nadal or Fed. So if he tells people to STFU, I say good for him. I hate the tits out thing, but his other behavior is no worse than anything Roger or Rafa have pulled throughout their careers.

Fuck all you haters, Novak is no. 1 again and Gramps and Rafa can see him gaining on them. Fed is an arrogant ass married to a pig of a woman and Rafa is a total closet case married to an employee of the family firm.

R252, You are trying really very hard. You have a better chance of selling bible to people like Martina Navratilova than selling this lie that Nole's whole Kobe Mary thing was anything other than pure self-promotion

R254, You are 75% right

Fed is an arrogant ass : Truth

His wife is pig : Yes

Rafa is a closet case: Yes

But none these fact negates that Nole is also an evil man.

Infact I put him alongside with Ted Bundy, Charles Shobraj and Judy Murray

can you imagine the big 3 fucking up a match against someone who had some kind of issue in the 2nd and 3rd sets? NO

Thiem needed to have put his foot down on the match in the 4th, keep the pressure up the whole time and he faltered. Pathetic

Thiem obviously is the most promising player in the last year and the closest to winning a slam but enough is enough. He's in mid 20s now not teens or early 20s. Time to get mentally tougher.

It's beyond pathetic that the big 3 (or now big 2) keeps dominating slam after fucking slam. The ATP is really not looking too good at the moment when even a less than 100% Djokovic can still win in 5.

can you imagine the big 3 fucking up a match against someone who had some kind of issue in the 2nd and 3rd sets? NO

Thiem needed to have put his foot down on the match in the 4th, keep the pressure up the whole time and he faltered. Pathetic

Thiem obviously is the most promising player in the last year and the closest to winning a slam but enough is enough. He's in mid 20s now not teens or early 20s. Time to get mentally tougher.

It's beyond pathetic that the big 3 (or now big 2) keeps dominating slam after fucking slam. The ATP is really not looking too good at the moment when even a less than 100% Djokovic can still win in 5.

R247, who are some of the other players who are at the top of your list? I hope Tsonga and Delpo are there.

R258, Big reason for big 3 success is they are mentally head and shoulder above rest of the ATP.

I am no fan of people BJK but she was right when she said that tennis is 60 % mental . Rest of things can be learnt even if you are not at all naturally talented

I am no fan of people.

here's hoping Garin can make a move in the clay season or something. Maybe soften up Nadal/Djokovic at RG for Thiem in the SF/F

something has to change this year. It's been far too long with the same old guys winning.

Djokovic is full-on Jekyll//Hyde. As long as he's in control, then he's smooth and calculating. Once he snaps a string, though, it's the ugliest and seemingly most genuine Hyde.

Thiem was very close. He lacks the killer instinc, but Federer killer instinc is not exactly remarkable and that didn't prevent him from winning 20 GS.

If Thiem is able to play well with regularity, he'll be a GS champion soon.

The day the nextgen start to reach the second week will be the day the big 3 will struggle to win GS. Rafa in RG and the US Open and Nole here, all reached the final without being challenged.

More on Kyrgios' eating habits...

what needs to happen I guess is for the big 3 to all have tough draws. Nadal almost always gets the very easiest of sections. His early rounds were a breeze but finally he had a tough 4th round in Kyrgios. I do think that softened him up for Thiem who then barely finished the job.

Federer had tough matches with Millman and then Sandgren

Djokovic had the easiest draw of the big 3.

it seems the ATP will need a team effort to take all of them down at the same slam. Pathetic but true.

Thiem is getting closer. If he learns from these losses, he's bound to bag a Slam or two. R266, I completely agree about the draws.

Federer didn't face a seeded player until his semifinal against Novak. Nadal faced seeded players from the 3rd round on; Novak from the 4th.

R266: The truth is Nole has the most difficult draw in theory, but Tsitsipas failed big time at the first opportunity he was tested.

Roger had a very easy draw but he was not in good form so he struggled.

Nadal had very easy first three rounds and then thing got very complicated. Nadal really relys on easy draws at Wimbledon, a couple of big servers on the first rounds and he struggle big time.

Sometimes is not the draw itself, but the contenders underperformed. Last year's Roland Garros was not an easy draw by itself, but his rivals failed to challenge him. And then everything that happened in the Nole-Thiem semifinal sealed the deal (Thiem was a great rival till he lost all gasoline in the third set)

I agree with you, R269. Federer was clearly hampered by something but still gave Nole a tough time in the 1st and 2nd sets. Nadal has benefited highly from easy draws over the last couple years, but you're right about last year's RG draw for him. It wasn't easy on paper, but all his competitors underperformed, including Thiem in the final. But I've heard many champions talk about luck. Sometimes things just go your way. They did for Djokovic this year. Of course you make your own luck in most ways, but in tight matches catching a break here and there can be crucial (e.g., Thiem's several lucky net cord shots dropping over when he played Nadal).

I think Thiem didn't underperformed, he simply lost all his energy.

Thiem was very nervous on the early rounds last year (almost Zverev level), then put thing together and reached semifinals, and we know what happened there. The conditions were terrible, he was facing Nole, they had to delay the match, and it was a very tight marathon.

To defeat Rafa you need to be at your best. He lost several opportunities in the first set, he was able to recover in the second, but then Nadal stopped the match (i think he was to bathroom) and Thiem has some opportunities at the beggining but Rafa saved them, and then he lost his serve. And everything went downhill after that.

Right now i think Thiem is the only one who could defeat Rafa on a Roland Garros final (Nole has everything to do it, but he tend to let his nerves get the best of him in that tournament and that final against Wawrinka showed it pretty well) but he needs to reach the final in optimal conditions.

If you analize all Rafa's victories in Roland Garros it gets pretty clear how important are the intimidation factor. Rafa build himself as invincible in that tournament, but his level differ a lot from year to year. Some years he was truly invincible showing an amazing level, but other years his level only went up in the very few times he needed. Most of his rivals were defeated even before the match started

I wonder how Thiem will fare when he has to start defending his points. Indian Wells will be a big test for him since it's his biggest title. He has 5-6 weeks to get ready

But with the Australian Open points he won't struggle with the ranking.

The truth is he can lose the fourth position to Medvedev (who has to defend points too, he won a title and reach semifinals in montecarlo) and to Tsitsipas (who won a tournament too), maybe if Zverev completes his resurgence he'll be there too.

But he has to do it really bad and the rest pretty well.

On the nextgen i think Felix has a couple of rough months ahead of him and on the opposite side Rublev and specially De Miñaur will climb on the rankings without too much effort.

I'm curious about Sinner, he'll start to defend points pretty soon, nothing he can't defend winning a first round on a main draw from time to time, but he'll have pressure for the first time in his career (specially the weeks of his challenger titles because he won a lot of points in a short period of time)

Shapo!

Newport Beach was loaded with several players in both the men's and women's draws who are top 100 but the winners were:

Madison Brengle

and

Thai-Son Kwiatkowski

The Sunshine Double

Novak was lucky he didn't have to face Kyrgios or T'pas. Whoever made the point about Novak's game being based on conserving energy was exactly right. He has an innate ability to calculate that factor as he plays each match.

R255, You are never going to sell me on the fact that you don't have sociopathic tendencies, if you are the one who can smell Novak from a mile away. Why do you watch someone you hate so much. It's not normal.

I agree, r277: Djokovic has become very skilled at rationing and managing his energy. He wasn't like that at the beginning of his career but he's become so much better at it. That's why he had trouble with Federer at the beginning of their semi. He wasn't expecting Roger to come out with guns ablaze and he had to adjust his level of play and expend more energy than he had anticipated.

Sharapova plummets to #369 and is now on a 4 match losing streak. Her last win was in August over Riske in Cincinnati

R279, it must be because her heart condition is preventing her from playing better.

Maria needs to hang it up. It's beyond obvious that she can't compete without help from illegal doping.

It seems Court is deeply hurt by what Martina and John did

Boo fucking hoo. Cunt.

Nice take on the failures and faux pas of this year’s AO, including the unmasking of Djokovic:

[quote]Sharapova plummets to #369 and is on a 4 match losing streak

journeywoman Sabina Sharipova is now ranked higher (#345) than Sharapova

Is she’s clay specialist?

Nice takedown of Djokovic, R284. Of course his apologists will say that he was mistreated.

Coco is Lizzo fan

"Mistreated", R287? By being compared with Margaret Court? That's not mistreatment, it's just insipid.

It was a pretty bad tournament.

I was referring to Djokovic's "Serena Williams moment" detailed at length in the article, R289. Where do you see him being compared with Court, other than the article's stating that both Djokovic and Court will be back at the AO again?

Nobody compared Djokovic to Court, r289. The article simply says that they both constituted a pr problem for the tournament. Court because of her homophobia and racism; Djokovic because of his privileged attitude and embarrassing ply cynical use of KB’s death to get a few extra kudos points.

Spain has a new hot young player! . He's cute and fit. 22 years old and #198 ranking

Carlos Taberner upset Verdasco today in Cordoba 4-6 6-1 6-4

to be fair Verdasco was making a lot of mistakes but Taberner is solid. I've never seen him before. Very quick handshake from the diva

The article at r284 grossly exaggerates. Djokovic did not have a "meltdown." He was surly, sarcastic, and rude, but he didn't scream, throw his racket, or otherwise lose control. He did not, for example, threaten to shove a ball down a linesperson's throat.

He shouted at the umpire more than and once. and he shouted at the crowd throughout the match(except 5th set) And he tried to physically intimidate umpire by tapping his foot. That is physical intimidation. That is more than anything which Jared Donaldson had done during his controversial intimidation antics. In that, Jared did not even touch the umpire. I am glad that the Guardian called out Nole by calling his behavior as crass.

It should be noted that per rule physical intimidation is considered as a bigger penalty than verbal abuse or racquet abuse or attempt to coaching through the stand

And some people here are attempting to rewrite the set of events during finale as if we had not seen the match . I do not want to be argumentative to other posters but this attempt is lame

He shouted at the umpire more than and once. and he shouted at the crowd throughout the match(except 5th set) And he tried to physically intimidate umpire by tapping his foot. That is physical intimidation. That is more than anything which Jared Donaldson had done during his controversial intimidation antics. In that, Jared did not even touch the umpire. I am glad that the Guardian called out Nole by calling his behavior as crass.

It should be noted that per rule physical intimidation is considered as a bigger penalty than verbal abuse or racquet abuse or attempt to coaching through the stand

And some people here are attempting to rewrite the set of events during finale as if we had not seen the match . I do not want to be argumentative to other posters but this attempt is lame

Djokovic should have at least gotten a warning for that behavior

Nadal was more obnoxious than Novak during the tournament. The Novak haters are just nuts. We get that you losers and Asian nutjob women worship Fed and can't stand the thought that if he stays healthy for the next few years, he'll LIKELY pass ole Rog. Fed is the biggest phony in sports.

I don't hate Djokovic, GOD hates Djokovic. It's in the bible.

THAT'S how I can smell Djoker's evil from a mile away, it's the sulphur!

R299: Wow, sometimes you have to root for Nole only to send a big fuck you to this kind of loonies

Why does it follow that if we dislike Djokovic, then we love Federer or Nadal? I would gladly not see another match from any of those three, just Djokovic in particular.

In my experience, R302, few people are just fans of a sport. A fan almost always has a primal bond with a specific player, and are invested in that player's rivalries. If someone hates a specific player, you can usually figure out who they love.

New thread now that this one has been paywalled.