The Gays and Tennis - Part 51 Run Up to the Sunshine Double

Prior thread.

thx OP

R2, lips like sugar, sugar kisses.

Would to breed Jack Sock's fat ass

thanks OP but WTF the last one didn't even make it to 300 posts and it got payrolled. WTF is wrong with this site...

What's wrong with this site is that cheapskates don't want to pay $1.50 a month so that paywalling isn't an issue.

Top 20 players sorted by Top 20 wins* over past 12 months

21 Thiem

19 Djokovic

15 Medvedev, Tsitsipas

14 Federer, Nadal

9 Zverev

8 Berrettini, Shapovalov

7 FAA, Rublev

6 Dimitrov, Garin, Khachanov, Schwartzman

5 Fognini, Goffin, Wawrinka

3 RBA

1 Monfils

Indian Wells challenger:

Rubin upsets #2 seed Poulle 6-4 7-6(5)

Poohey.

Pouille just isn't happening. A bigger flop than Flopos and Young Grigor.

Pouille never was supposed to be the next big thing like those two.

He is the best from a specially mediocre year (1994), but he won his first title with 22, precocious he is not (to be fair Dimitrov wasn't precocious either)

I think Indian Wells might be the last tournament for a while.

[quote] I think Indian Wells might be the last tournament for a while.

The Sunshine Single?

Zidansek destroys Azarenka 6-2 6-2

Fernandez continues her Acapulco form with a straight set win over Voegele

Acapulco champ Watson out in 3 sets to Tatjana Maria

Indian Wells challenger: Tiafoe 6-3 6-4 over bff Mmoh

Sock upsets Humbert

What’s Popsicle’s skin color?

He's Czech Slurpee

Yee Haw

R12 Due to Covid, you mean?

Konta def. Clijsters 6-3 7-5

Kim's first 2 matches in her comeback have been against tough opponents. She's playing top 50 level tennis

[quote] He's Czech Slurpee

What color is that?

R19 Yes.

The clay season most likely won't happen.

yesterday Indian Wells challenger:

Zvonareva def. Stosur 4-6 6-2 6-2

Normally I would not have problem with cancellation of claybourt season since it has been generally Nadal season for past 15 years. However this year I was loking forward for some Domi action in clay court swing

Can't wait for Uncle Toni's interview with El Pais demanding that the US Open and Australian Open be played on clay to make up for the cancellation of the French Open.

Several Davis Cup matches (Japan-Ecuador and Italy-South Korea) will be played in empty stadiums.

R26, I guess it's possible that other events might be played like that, too. That could be very strange. I've watched soccer games being played in empty stadiums (usually because one of the teams is being sanctioned for bad behavior by fans), and it's like watching ghosts play.

So sad the Roger is not playing. Will be cool to see how that prima donna would play if her loony fans are not out there harnessing her opponent

Has Pospisil showed his big horse dick yet? Lemme know when.

Stephens loses in 3 sets to Fernandez

What a freakout with coronavirus.

It's a seasonal illness, so there won't be a problem by Roland Garros just like the flu is not a problem at those months of the year

Could they fiscally hold big tournaments without the income from attendees? The prize money is staggering.

if the tournament owner is super rich like the Indian Wells owner

Federer’s surgery turns out to have been very well-timed.

Roger has perfect timing on every level.

In the previous thread someone talked about the lack of junior success for Alcaraz, but it seems pretty common between spanish players. Nadal only played one junior GS, Wimbledon (he reached semifinals). Most of them doesn't seem too interested in playing the junior circuit. Pablo Llamas won the orange bowl u 16 in 2018, he played RG and Wimbledon last year and this year (with his level he could be a top 10 or fight for a GS) he is totally focused on itfs.

I suppose it's because in Spain there's a lot of 15k and 25k, and when you are 17-18 seem more useful to play those tournaments to get atp ranking than playing juniors.

Watching junior GS champions, most of them have trouble to make the transition to the atp tour.

AO champions since 2015:

2015 Safiulin (right now he is 188 on the live ranking)

2016 Anderson (he is retired after an scandal of fixing matches)

2017 Piros (406)

2018 Korda (221)

2019 Musetti (287)

2020 Mayot (450)

Roland Garros:

2015: Paul (57)

2016: Blancaneaux (266)

2017: Popyrin (103)

2018: Tseng (279)

2019: Rune (846)

Wimbledon

2015: Opelka (38)

2016: Shapovalov (16)

2017: Davidovich (97)

2018: Tseng (279)

2019 Mochizuki (598)

US Open

2015 Fritz (24)

2016 FAA (20)

2017 Yibing (859)

2018 Seyboth Wild (114)

2019 Forejtek (431)

Wimbledon is the one with the champions doing better (Mochizuki just like Rune is only 16)

Both players from Paraguay on the Davis cup are 15 year old

Jack Sock seems to be "back" he's into the Indian Wells challenger semis

Zvonareva too

[quote] Jack Sock seems to be "back"

Was he ever "here"?

Is Kenin’s outfit slutty or badly cut or both?

Are we even getting to Indian Wells?

New rules: Ball boys/girls will wear gloves. Players will handle their own towels. No autographs and no fan interaction.

I'm headed over to Indian Wells on Thursday for the day. I'll let you know how it goes.

B. Andreescu is still injured and can't defend her IW title, so she will drop out of the top 10

Andreescu needs to strengthen her body. She gets hurt way too easily

she also might not want to play such a grinding style of tennis. Last summer in particular she had a lot of long matches and points

Monterrey final will be Svitolina vs. Bouzkova

Lyon final will be Kenin vs. Friedsam

Indian Wells challenger final will be Doi vs. Begu Zvonareva withdrew from her match with a hip injury

Sock vs. Johnson is the men's final

Bianca...

R42, If you meet Domi , squeeze his ass for me and try to push ur finger inside his boyhole for me

R47 I watched him on the practice court last year. Damn he was hot. I don't like that he shaves his legs now.

I want to be tag teamed by Sascha Zverev and Milos Raonic.

Ugh, R48...Sascha and Milos?! Love yourself more.

R49 I have a thing for long legs.

Then go for Novak. Definitely the best legs on tour.

And if it was only about long legs, you'd be all about those studs Reilly Opelka and Ivo Karlovic.

R42 Tell Borna that he has a lot of gay fans.

R52, R50 said he likes long legs . He didn't say that he liked Palm trees

Isn't Jack Sock one of the American Trump supporter tennis players?

....

Davis Cup

Colombia- Argentina 3-1

Australia- Brazil 3-1

Germany - Belarus 4-1

Slovakia - Czech Republic 1-3

Japan - Ecuador 0-3

USA - Uzbekistan 4-0

Italy - South Korea 4-0

Kazakhstan - Netherlands 3-1

Austria - Uruguay 3-1

Sweden - Chile 3-1

R56: That's very far from the worst treatment of a ball boy i watched recently, Nole, Tsitsipas or specially Verdasco did way worse.

By the way, Luca Nardi became the second player born in 2003 in winning a itf tournament after defeating Pospisil (the czech not the canadian) at the 15k of Sharm El Sheikh in Egypt, 57 64 76.

Indian Wells wc:

Main draw male wc: Tennys Sandgren, Jack Sock, Brandon Nakashima, Marcos Giron y Mitchell Krueger

Main draw female wc: Catherine McNally, Kim Clijsters, Kristie Ahn, Christina McHale, Shelby Rogers, Madison Brangle, Usue Arconada y Leylah Fernandez

Q draw male wc: Carlos Alcaraz, Michael Mmoh, JJ Wolf, Thai-Son Kwiatkowski y Govind Nanda

Q draw female wc: Nicole Gibbs, Whitney Osuigwe, Caroline Dolehide, Hailey Baptiste, Ashley Kratzer y Diane Parry

R59, thank you. I was starting to look for the wild cards. I crush on Rubin, so was hoping he'd get one. I lust mightily for Mmoh, Kwiatowski and Wolf, so happy they're at least in the qualifying main draw.

R56, that was a good read. Good on her, though she should have quit on the spot. The way some of those players screech for a towel. They can go fuck themselves.

Nice puff piece on cutie Tommy Paul

And now, R60, the players at IW are going to have to wrangle their own towels. Just think of the time-wasting . . .

That's a very low bar, R58. Sock has always come across as surly, vacant, slack-jawed, and entitled. Too bad she didn't "accidentally" hit him in the head with a tennis ball.

I'm hoping Sock gets a ridiculously hard first round match and gets destroyed but he seems to be finding his game

Venus needs the towel after the first point and demands it after every point these days. She's already really lethargic out there; imagine how slow her matches are going to be now.

Last year when Kyle Edmund won Indianwells Challenger ,media who is lapdog of British people was comparing that incident " to second Advent This year no is even mentioning this tournament

Why would they? The final between Johnson and Sock is blander than Wonder Bread and potato soup, and most of the preceding matches have been just as bland.

[quote] She's already really lethargic out ther

Sloth Venus.

Oracle challenger

Meanwhile...

Johnson def. Sock 6-4 6-4 Johnson has now won their last 3 meetings

well Ellison has that much younger gf he likes to parade around. He's vile and greedy of course he'd love Trump

I always liked the Miami tournament better anyway

Steve Johnson beats Jack Sock 6-4, 6-4 to win the Indian Wells Challenger.

Johnson up to #63 (+13) in the rankings.

Sock up to #384 (+384)

Isn't Larry Ellison something of a loon? Like he had his own chromosomes frozen or some weird shit so he can live forever?

Paywalled.

$18 a year is not a paywall.

You are idiots.

R75 = Margaret Court

INDIAN WELLS CANCELLED

Larry E's daughter is a young lesbian film producer in Hollywood. I wonder how she feels about her dad's politics.

[quote]INDIAN WELLS CANCELLED

No Sunshine Double!

[quote] No Sunshine Double!

Sunshine Single!

[quote] No Sunshine Double!

I wonder how the sunshine double troll will react to this news.

wow

well I'm glad if anyone has to lose a lot of money it's Ellison

any news on Miami?

Tournament director Tommy Haas: "We are prepared to hold the tournament on another date and will explore options.”

I doubt that's possible

I doubt Miami happens either then.

Then then the tour moves to Western Europe ... Barcelona, Madrid, Rome, French Open, London.

Tennis twitter is furious. But imagine if a bunch of players got infected there or some mass outbreak could be traced to the tournament.

I mean Italy had like 10 cases a week and a half ago and now has almost 2,000.

R84, I assume Rome is already out of the question. As for the rest of them . . ?

wow Indian Wells is actually trending on twitter now

well it's only fair. Roger can't defend his IW points so no one else should get to either

OMG! Is this beginning of the End?

Which is more dangerous Corona or Mirka?

For elder gays asking about the rankings.

The points will obviously still drop. Rankings are a 52weeks system, no matter the tournament happens or not.

Domi will be the biggest loser

Update: Play has been suspended at IndianWells due to an unreasonable demand by Novak Djokovic

Update: Play has been suspended at IndianWells due to an unreasonable demand by Novak Djokovic

Breaking: All sporting events in Italy will take place without fans present for at least the next month due to the coronavirus outbreak in the country, the Italian government announced on Wednesday.

So ven if Rome master happen it will be empty stadium

[quote] So ven if Rome master happen it will be empty stadium

we are used to it. No problem

Vasek Pospisil sure is pretty.

Sunshine Double, cancelled because of the Wuhan virus, replacing Wuhan would be Justifiable

"One scenario that has been discussed – but clearly it’s too early to know if it has legs – is that Indian Wells and Miami might replace the Asian swing in the fall."

It's highly unlikely that Miami will go forward -- Broward County already has an outbreak.

I doubt any tournament in Spain, Germany, France or Italy will occur - each now has over 1,000 cases.

have the tours discussed playing with no fans?

I know they have proposed that in basketball

sucks for the atmosphere but at least that would cut the risk. Obviously not in a highly infected area though

Who's gonna PAY ME for my repertoire of tired jokes and phoned-in commentary???!

France has just banned gatherings of over 1000 people, which has already caused several sports events to be cancelled.

I never thought that there would be a positive side of Wuflu. But here we are R101

Look at bright side for Serena . She may not be able to break MSC's record (because tennis has been cancelled for next 4-5 months) but she can stay at home be with her baby

Look at bright side for Serena . She may not be able to break MSC's record (because tennis has been cancelled for next 4-5 months) but she can stay at home be with her baby

What baby, R104/R105?

Maria chose the best time to retire from tennis

Roger chose the best time to have a surgery

Kim Clijsters chose the worst time to make a comeback

And I was gonna WIN this year

I don't see how any of the tournaments before June will be able to be held unless they ban fans. Even then the players will have to travel through airports, stay in hotels and eat at restaurants

This was just posted by old tennis scribe, Pete Bodo.

Lucky cunt Federer must be so happy right now. Nadal and Djokovic will likely be robbed one GS each.

OK the NBA just suspended their season. No way will tennis continue

At least tennis would make sense without an audience since they lose their minds if there is any sound while they are in a point anyway. They'd finally get their way.

And Roland Garros' Philippe Chatrier Court was so proud to show off its new roof and lights. Maybe next year now...

A [italic]baby[/italic], r105!!??

So tennis has been cancelled forever . And we all are gonna die in few months but we will still never know that who is gay on ATP circuit ?

Not even JMG has announced it officially yet

So tennis has been cancelled forever . And we all are gonna die in few months but we will still never know that who is gay on ATP circuit ?

Not even JMG has announced it officially yet

Everyone is a lesbian in the WTA. All of them!

R115, Where is [ital]that baby[/ital]?!

poor Navratilova's ego must have been crushed today.

On Jeopardy a question about a woman who won 9 Wimbledon titles was asked. All 3 contestants answered-1 King, 1 Graf and 1 Evert. Alex than noted the question was a hard one lol

r118 I’m certain there are some on the men’s tour too Margaret !

R116: Let's be serious, this is not the Ebola.

In a couple of months the coronavirus will be contained and they will play again. It'll be a messy season but that's all

R120: That's not a hard one, in fact it's an easy one. Every sports fan (not only a tennis fan) knows that.

Margaret Court is now the pastor of Victory Life Centre, a Christian church in Perth. They have no plans to close services as a result of the coronavirus, and a message on her website shows just how far Court is willing to take her religious delusions. “We are in agreement that this [COVID-19] will not come near our dwelling or our church family. We are praying daily for you, knowing that we are all protected by the Blood of Jesus.”

Poor Margaret always was dull.

It looks like her head was photoshopped onto a much bigger body.

Thank you for not posting from Outsports, R124.

Slutty JMG

R124, I am so tired of these anti-science people. They sound nuts, they have to go away.

R128, JMG doesn't look slutty. He looks like any hot guy at the gym. I always really liked him back from the beginning of his playing days. Good for him for looking that good.

JMG is a top right? Hard to imagine Malek being anything but a bottom.

Yaroslava Shvedova under quarantine in Kazakhstan. Someone on a flight from Milan had COVID.

Where’s the sunshine double troll?

More like sunshine zero amarite? Hahaha!

A few days ago the (very) optimistic scenario was the season resuming on grass courts.

Now, I'm afraid, the (very) optimistic scenario is for the season to resume after Wimbledon.

I noticed Noah Rubin is offering lessons either in person in NYC area or via video. I haven't yet noticed any other players offering similar services.

Love Noah. He's interesting as well as being super cute. He should be a DL fave.

R136, I think he is. Maybe not Domi or Popsicle levels, but he's got some followers for sure.

Sasha is still shoving his fake girlfriend right down our throat

Isn't Rubin quite small, like Lil Diego small?

In order to ensure the health and safety of everyone involved in organising the tournament, the French Tennis Federation has made the decision to hold the 2020 edition of Roland Garros from 20th September to 4th October 2020...

...which is one week after the US Open!?

Holy fuck, r140. Shit’s getting realer. That would imply that Wimbledon is either going to be moved scrapped for 2020. If it’s the former, where are they going to move it? It’s very likely that Europe is going to be on lockdown until August–September, so that’s not going to leave any plausible space for Wimbledon, unless they play it as a late-autumn or early-winter indoor event.

Some players are protesting on Twitter and saying that they were not told in advance, R140.

A few days ago it was reported that the Wimbledon organizers would rather cancel than hold matches without spectators, and, in any event, they were insured and could afford to refund the tickets. So it may be the first to cancel.

r142 , You mean like Perpetual whiner like Vasek Popsil

R141: Probably not Italy, Spain or France, but Uniken Kingdom is starting only now and Boris Johnsson's plan make all the other presidents look like diligent and smart.

With the heat the crisis probably will be more controlled.

It's terrible to notice that the humans are so greedy, because if people weren't losing interest for SARS when the epidemy lost steam we probably won't have a global problem right now, because both virus are pretty similar (fortunately Covid-19 is less lethal than SARS).

Roland Garros probably did the right thing but they did it the wrong way

R144: At least he is able to express his thoughts and that's way more than most players seem able to do

R138: Sascha is so over the top that all his relationship looks like the fake pr stunts of hollywood. His girlfriend is a nobody, but she was famous they will be the Shawn Mendes and Camila Cabello of the atp

The Laver Cup is scheduled during the time of the nuFrench Open. I'm sure Rafa will skip the French to boost his bestie Fed and the greatest player of the TWENTIETH CENTURY Rocket Laver.

Yeah sure.

By the way, it seems Rafa knew they were moving Roland Garros because they called him

of course they'd let him know. he's won every goddam French Open for the last 20 years practically.

The deferral of Roland Garros was not too hard to predict; even I anticipated that.

It won't happen. They'll end up having to cancel, as will the Kentucky Derby. So stupid.

I bet they will reschedule RG but cancel Wimbledon. A bunch of Novak haters.

Nadal will be calling for the USO series to be canceled and instead have the clay season then

It makes sense to have RG after the USO. Nobody cares about the indoor/Asian season from September to November.

[quote] so that’s not going to leave any plausible space for Wimbledon, unless they play it as a late-autumn or early-winter indoor event.

Yes please but outdoors. I want to see Kate's hard nipples.

[quote] Nobody cares about the indoor/Asian season from September to November.

Is this where we talk about Asian swing?

I assume Margaret Court is liberal as I saw a petition from an Aussie version of Focus on the Family doing the rounds on FB. They had written some crazy block of text letter to Margaret Court and wanted people to sign it.

I bought my bf a Wimbledon ticket package with flight, hotel and QF ticket for Christmas. Used money I got from a car accident settlement and strongly regretting it now. I hope these types of packages are covered under Wimbledon’s insurance policy.

I hope so, R158. Let us know what happens.

Nole must be quite happy that the rankings were frozen *after* he got back at #1. I suppose the number of weeks at number one keeps getting counted however so Roger's record weeks at number 1 is very much in danger now.

if they freeze the ranking they should freeze weeks at #1 too

It doesn't work this way. I should know.

David Law from The Tennis Podcast is doing a AMA on Reddit.

R160. Nole is the one who has more to lose. He is three GS away from Federer and the time is running out. The time one of the younger players is coming. Nole (if nothing happens) will be competitive for several years, but this will be probably his last year as big favourite, and it's very different to be the big one to one of the contenders (specially if the contenders are a good bunch and not only 3)

You are about to be quarantined with 2 players for a whole month.

Pause and screenshot the GIF twice and reply/quote with who you’re stuck with

ATP Top 100 version (with a few additional players)

Really, R165? Shapo is your top choice? Yikes. Well, to each their own.

Shapo be dumb.

I'd be down with quarantining with Shapo, as long as the house was large enough that we could avoid each other from time to time.

Shapo team

Does anyone know when Tennis Channel will repeat the Federer/Thiem Indian Wells final? I missed the first 12 times they repeated it.

lol r170

I'm sad that all the hot tennis bros are forced to stay at home because of the virus. They need to be seen.

I am bummed that The Tennis Channel is showing so much WTA lately. I'm not a fan of all that screeching. More men's matches, please.

[quote] I'm not a fan of all that screeching.

They also screech and moan together in bed. All of them!

I'm sure they do, R174, and I'm definitely not interested! Lol

Exactly which fellow WTA player turned Margaret down, back in the day, to make her so bitter? Big Betty Stove?

What is Brooklyn Decker-Roddick's password?

ESPN2 has been showing classic major tennis matches.

Damn this virus caused by Mexican beer. People should have bought good Republican American beer and this would not be happening. I can't get a single guy to come over and fuck me. I am so horny all the time. I even called Jimmy, John, Andy and Greg. Those bastards all turned me down.

I had to yell at Andy that I gave him two children and he owed me dick in return. The asshole retorted, "Whaddaya mean, two kids? Who is the father of the third one?"

Typical man. Nitpicking in a time of crisis. Damn it, I am burning with lust. My choices are down to pleasuring myself with my pencil or calling Martina and Pam.

Oh Lord, please don't force me to lez it up with Pampers Shriver.

R179 zzzzzzzzz

What R180 said

Tennis Channel had an interview from Friday with International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee Andy Roddick. He's sitting on the veranda, and I suppose like many he hasn't had a haircut. The past few years he's almost had a buzz cut. The longer hair suits him well and makes him look much younger.

I didn't recognize Roddick in that interview. If they hadn't put his name on the bottom of the screen, I wouldn't have known who it was. Was it the laptop camera angle?

Wimbledon officials are expected to announce later this week that the grass-court classic will not be held this summer, becoming the sporting world’s latest high-profile casualty of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Citing a German Tennis Federation vice president, Sky Sports Germany reported Monday morning that officials of All England Lawn Tennis Club, which hosts the two-week Grand Slam event, have decided against the limited options available for safely staging the tournament, which included contesting it without spectators.

“Wimbledon will decide to cancel on Wednesday,” German Tennis Federation vice president Dirk Hordorff told Sky Sports Germany, alluding to an emergency All England Club board meeting scheduled that day. “There is no doubt about it. This is necessary in the current situation.

I wonder how many pro's will call it a career now that the circuit has slowed down essentially to a halt. Opportune time to reflect and come to terms with reality.

R185 True. Many of them are also training for no reason right now. There is no foreseeable tennis on the calendar, and many of them are not earning any money. Basically just in the gym every day for nothing at the present moment, and some of them are nursing painful injuries year-round.

Some of the older players who are slipping out of the upper echelons of the game might seriously be thinking of calling it a day (such as a Kirsten Flipkens, or the older Zverev brother... doubles specialists like Kveta Peschke, Nicolas Mahut and Rajeev Ram), let alone the big earners like Venus, Kerber, Prehistosur, Zvonareva.

I wonder if Clijsters will cancel her comeback

she wouldn't go to Asia after the tsunami hit the nuclear power plant last decade

in Japan

And you’ve got to wonder what’s going to happen to players currently chasing massive records and are no longer spring chickens (SWilliams, Federer, Nadal, and even Djokovic). It’s very likely that there may be only 3 GSs this year at best, or one if things go horribly wrong. Do their careers get asterisked in some way?

That fat bitch Serena is not gonna win another slam. This year's Wimbledon was gonna be her last chance. I'm sad that Djokovic is 1 GS less though. Hopefully he will still win more than 20 GSs by the time he retires.

Did Federer plant the coronavirus so Rafa and Djokovic can't catch him? They've already likely been scammed out of a slam each they would have likely won if not for this virus (which would put Nadal at 20).

Serena has already captured GOAT status. It would be great to see her take down homophobe Court’s record because I can’t stand Court. Either way, Serena seems pretty happy these days. She’s accomplished more than anyone thought possible and she’s looking healthier than she has in years.

I think for all intents, Serena has the most quality slams. So many of Court's were empty because of draw size and quality of opponents. She was a great champion, sure, and I suspect with today's technology she'd be a force...but so many of her titles were not top tier. Side note: I'm so very glad Chris Evert beat her in the semis of Wimbledon in 1973 so Court didn't get another Grand Slam.

We should all be rooting for Serena to break Court's record. As fake as Court's stats are, she still has them and I hate seeing that homophobic bitch at the top of every list. She doesn't deserve to be there and Serena is the ONLY possibility of this ever being changed.

[quote] PART OF US OPEN HOME TO BE CONVERTED TO HOSPITAL FOR CORONAVIRUS AID

[quote] The USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center's Indoor Training Center is being made into a 350-bed hospital, and Louis Armstrong Stadium will be used for food service needs, to be dispersed around New York City, one of COVID-19 epicenters in the U.S.

So tragic, R189...

You’re the very person I was thinking of when I was wondering about asterisked player results, r196.

Patrick McEnroe has COVID-19.

Too bad Gimelstob doesn’t have it that we know of.

DL Fave Kat Adams also has COVID-19!

[quote] DL Fave Kat Adams also has COVID-19!

Well, I mean, you, well I feel about that, that it’s good, I think. I don’t know, but you know what I mean.

Thinking of Mahut and his huge cock today. Bless him.

For everyone rooting for Serena to break Court's record because Margaret is a homophobe, what makes you think Serena herself is particularly gay-friendly? She may say the right things when people are watching but she was raised a very religious JW and I wouldn't be surprised at all if she turned out to a homophobic bigot underneath all the SJW posturing. (Funny that Serena's initials are also SJW)

R203 she has gay friends. I'll also never forget how a few years ago when she won the AO she went out of her way to go hug an obviously gay male fan who was wearing a similar outfit she had

you can't judge someone for how they were raised.

I can't stand Serena. Let's face it. No one really cares about Margaret Court these days. But if Serena wins another slam the media will talk about her non stop. It would be hilarious if she keeps losing GS finals with her bff Meghan watching.

Ohhh sweet summer child R204...you really think a religious nut job like Serena Williams supports our community? Think again.

[quote] Let's face it. No one really cares about Margaret Court these days

John McEnroe and Martina Navratilova do.

No Wimbledon.

Wimbleton

Poor Roger.

R210 Poor Roger? More like poor Nadal and Djokovic.

Martina must be celebrating that neither Gramps nor Auntie Rena can get close to her Wimbledon record due to the cancellation this year.

R206: She showed she was gay friendly all her career. You rarely get backlash for being an homophobe in a sport enviroment (if you are smart enough) and she was raised in a religious enviroment, but she and Venus always were gay friendly (or at least once they become adults, both were too obnoxious as teenagers to care about what they thought).

I never was his bigger fan but being an homophobe is not one of her flaws.

And the same for some male players people hate on this site like Isner or Quarry

It seems Bresnik and Thiem relationship didn't end the best way, Bresnik said that without him Thiem would be a futures player (he must have a big ego to think he is the only responsible for the success of a guy who is a top player from 2016) and talked trash about his father

[quote] And the same for some male players people hate on this site like Isner or Quarry

They’re not homophobes?

Will Granny Vee announce her retirement? She turns 40 this year and many of her fans felt she wanted to play at the Olympics one last time before retiring. With Wimbledon being canceled and Tokyo 2020 getting postponed by a year, she has nothing left to play for. The only tournies she can even win matches in are the obscure Moo Shu Pork Noodle Soup Classic type Tier 6 events in the Asian swing. What motivates her to keep playing and embarrassing herself with bad losses?

They are Trump supporters

Venus might hold out till next year. But the way shes been playing I doubt she'll do much in the way of results at Wimbledon or the Olympics.

Granny V's had enough Olympic opportunities. Geez retire.

R219, if Great Auntie Rena is still playing next year she will almost certainly be on the Olympic team and Granny Vee could at least be included in the doubles. In singles who are the other Americans available apart from Great Auntie? Kenin-Kardenne, Coco Gruff, Sloaney Stephens and the awful Madysen Keyes?

R217: Yes, but they are not homophobic. Everytime Isner or Quarry were asked for their opinion they were supportive, you can not say the same of people like Marcelo Melo

I don't believe that Isner is an ally despite what he may have said when the thought it was the right thing to do from a public relations perspective.

Sock and Kyrgios are definitely not gay allies.

What have Sock and Kyrgios said?

R222 You can believe whatever you want, but that's what he said (and more than one time).

In tennis (like most sports) people don't hide low key homophobia.

By the way, Kyrgios is a jerk but he doesn't seem to be an homophobe

Kyrgios, Millman, Kokkinakis, Jordan Thompson and most of the current generation of Oz players are pro-gay, and most gave Court a piece of their mind and defended Dellacqua when the old crone questioned the legitimacy of Dellacqua’s family.

Being Republican is BY DEFINITION being homophobic.

^please do STFU

Since there no tennis and I'm pretty bored on lockdown does anyone have any questions about the women's tour from late 80s to 2000? I used to work for the WTA tour in the office they had here in London. Spent about 90% of year in London but did go to some European tournaments and the year end one in New York a few times as part of it and worked with a lot of the players various teams. I've posted a few things on here before but didn't want to say too much but well it was a long time ago , I don't think anyone will care now haha. So yeah if you have anything to ask to help pass the time let me know

Truth hurts, doesn't it r227

R229 you simply reveal you idiocy and bigotry. Go away. You won't cut it here.

R228, I know she’s Australian, but Wendy Turnbull seems like a nice gal. Any experiences with her?

R228, what was the lovely Gaby Sabatini like? Was Arantxa Sanchez as troll-like as she looked?

R231 Yeah I encountered Wendy a few times. As far as I know she was quite well liked. Pretty sure she has never publicly came out but she definitely never hid that she was a lesbian either. She actually was in a relationship with one of the tour staffers in America, Anna Leaird, both good friends with Chris Evert and spent time on holidays together etc.

She was pretty much at end of career when I started but think a lot of tennis fans, not just people who worked there, knew she was very close to Andrea Jaeger which was before my time. I remember round about the early 90s, an American journalist was doing an article about Chris Evert or Chris and Martina's rivalry maybe?? He was not a tennis reporter at all and remember him having his media access revoked at the Eastbourne for hassling players for gossip. The article was pretty tame in the end I think, but he did mention how Chris was a rather different character from her media image (true) and that she encouraged Anna and Wendy to get together which really affected Andrea. He did this by the way without specifically mentioning Wendy and Anna by name I'm sure, so Wendy remained in the closet publically at least, but I am sure he did specify that it was Andrea that Chris had turned them against.

Also remember she was hired by the BBC on year to commentate at Wimbledon but turned out they didn't want her on TV, they wanted her on the radio coverage only which she took offence at.

Thank you so much, R233. Very insightful.

R233, was the American writer Peter Bodo? He mentioned the Andrea Jaeger incident in his book and Chrissy's involvement but without mentioning Wendy and Ana's names.

Mary Carillo mentioned on a recent podcast that Jennifer Capriati is in a very bad state right now. She's refusing all help (from Chris Evert and others).

R232 I have to preface this by saying Gaby and Arantxa were obviously top players, they had agents and teams dealing with everything for them. Any direct involvement with players was usually the girls in the 30-150 rank range who really did have to deal with a lot of the mundane things themselves if they didnt have an agent or family to do it.

Gaby and Arantxa were both well liked as well. Gaby's dad is not someone who would be considered a famous tennis parent at all but he was an absolute constant. She didn't get much time to herself in that respect but I guess he was just very protective. Arantxa was very nice any time I met her, can never remember any bad talk around her from other staffers. One year though she came to Eastbourne tournament and she was really different maybe 96 or 97 time, it was like something had happened behind the scenes. Definitely a bit of energy was gone and not as chatty and it was noticeable. Her brother Emilio was widely known to be gay. Again I doubt he would publicly say that but like Wendy Turnbull it was not a secret. I read recently Arantxa went through a very messy divorce which is a shame.

R235 oh definitely not Peter. If his media access had been revoked there would have been hell to pay. He could be confrontational. A lot of players didn't like him- or his questioning maybe, rather than him personally. He made people, myself included, uncomfortable somehow. Can't quite put my finger on it but I am surprised he didn't just mention Wendy in his book knowing his style.

R228 who would you say were the top 5 nicest and meanest/rudest players during your time working there? What was the worst episode you ever witnessed?

who were the sorest losers when cameras weren't around?

R228 who would you say were the top 5 nicest and meanest/rudest players during your time working there? What was the worst episode you ever witnessed?

who were the sorest losers when cameras weren't around?

R237, even if Emilio was known to be gay, I imagine that the woman he's been married to for over twenty years and their four children might think he's more inclined toward bisexuality.

I always thought that Robredo was the Spanish tennis player rumored to be gay, and of course Nadal. And Feli. And Fernando....maybe Emilio's little brother Javier?

R236 that is quite sad to hear. I always rooted for Jennifer and thought she had incredible natural gifts for playing tennis. But unfortunately that girl was broken from an early age. Even coming back and realizing some of her huge potential could not bring her happiness. It's very sad because she had all the tools. And would've been a great rival for Serena beyond just 3 or 4 years. But sorry to say it's always smelled like it could end poorly for her.

she's had a history of mental instability. Remember the craziness with that younger bf in Florida?

and she's a rabid deplorable

R240: I've never heard a rumour about Fernando, and the only one spreading rumours about is his ex wife (he is a prime example of how to reacto to gay rumours and look cool).

The truth is most spanish players are conservative (well, it's a conservative sport) but even well known conservatives as Juan Carlos Ferrero are very gay friendly, maybe it's because unlike other sports, tennis always had a big gay following

[quote] I've never heard a rumour about Fernando, and the only one spreading rumours about is his ex wife

I thought it was Feliciano’s ex (girlfriend? wife?) who said she’d had enough of his MMF threesomes?

No, she never went that far. She became a reality show person after divorcing with Feliciano (she really seem to have a problem to overcome their divorce given the snarky comments she made when he won Queens) and she needs the spotlight.

She insinuated he was gay, he said he had a lot of interesting offers since she said that. And that was basically all.

She was married with Fonsi Nieto before, and their relationship is pretty bad right now. In fact the only thing Feli seems to miss from their marriage was the relationship with Foni and Alba's kid.

She was with Courtois for a brief while (she has a thing for sport men) and it was the only thing she was totally right, because she was blamed for his bad perfomances (it was not only fans, some sports journalists did the same) and she called that bullshit.

Feli seems a nice guy, but that marriage was a big mistake and to be fair she was not the only one to blame

I've never heard about the MMF threesomes thing. Do you have a link?

WTA insider, do share some more gossip. Who were the other lesbians on the tour besides the known ones like Martina, Conchita, Jana and Gigi? Who else on the men's tour was rumored to be gay apart from Emilio? What about Monica? There have been rumors that she is asexual. Any gossip about her?

I miss all the hot tennis bros. Is Grigor still getting dicked often? Is Borna in quarantine with Bruna? Is Berrettini safe in Italy? So many questions.

And who's sucking Popsicle?

Popsicle can suck himself.

Melo and Sascha are in Florida together.

R248, some of the guys are posting on Instagram. Some casual funny stuff like Stan Warinka, and others are giving peeks into their training workouts.

DL fave Mmoh is working out in his garage

Where can we see this, R253? I love Mmoh, and I've seen him shirtless up close. Let me tell you, he is magnificent.

R254 he had some stuff in his insta stories which are gone now but you can see the setup here

did you talk to him or just see him? Were other fans paying attention? He's not super famous except to close followers of the tour so I'm curious if he has charisma to attract lots of strangers. He was just starting to play better when the tours suspended. Hopefully he'll be ready to go whenever play resumes

R255, he was on the tournament site after a match, shirt off, arms full of gear. Yes, progress lost.

Sascha miss a lot his girlfriend, or at least that's what he says

Andy Roddick is actually getting better looking based on his Tennis Channel interviews. He's matured and doesn't look as bratty and fratty.

I saw this on a friend's Facebook wall and was wondering if it was true about Wimbledon. If so, well done there.

Andy Roddick and Jan-Michael Gambill doing side-by-side commentary on TC is like my 90s wet dream come true. Love those boys.

I didn't even recognize Jan-Michael. Didn't he used to be blond?

Roddick was so casual yesterday. New buzzed hair, wearing a t-shirt, eating during the segments, etc. He probably had a beer sitting beside his laptop.

[quote] New buzzed hair

Not a good look on him. He now looks 20 years older than he did last week.

[quote] eating during the segments

Does Brooklyn approve?

I don't know why Roddick insists on buzzing his hair. It is NOT a good look for him.

Domicakes.

Roddick still looks like a troll. Only on DL and in frau land would he be considered good-looking or hot.

JMG posted a picture of his boyfriend cutting his hair on instagram.

Margaret Court says The Blood of Jesus will keep the virus from her.

I think Roddick is completely bald and buzzing it off is what he can do. I think he is very funny and charming. I did not care for him as a tennis player but I like his commentary. Homeboy can talk and he ain't shy!

[quote] Margaret Court says The Blood of Jesus will keep the virus from her.

Seriously?

R270, absolutely.

Thanks, R271. How horrid (and I'm not just referring to her turkey-like neck).

Margaret was a great athlete, but she was always dumb as a box of hair.

Did Margaret Court fuck any of the Aussies of her era like Rod Laver, Roy Emerson, Ken Rosewall, John Newcombe or Lew Hoad? Was she known as a good time girl before she found Jesus? She's so preachy and self-righteous that I feel she's over-compensating for a slutty past.

She really does seem like a kind of awful person, doesn't she?

Stupid, ugly in spirit and outlook, mean, bigoted, delusional, conceited, self-aggrandizing...what's not to like?

R274, I suspect she probably had a pretty closeted lezzo life back in the day. It’s just what I invariably think about most homophobes.

Margaret does not strike me as a closeted lesbo. Based on other things she's said about people of color, religious minorities and gender roles, I feel she's one of those old, white people who still romanticize a time when Anglo Saxons were at the top, people of color and women "knew their place" and gay people were either killed or forced to remain closeted and celibate.

I've met more than a few white women of her age who talk fondly about their days when "men were men" and society didn't "pander to all the minorities to be politically correct." Margaret doesn't seem that different from an average racist, homophobic, breeder frau in the American South.

The most hypocritical thing in all this is that in spite of espousing traditional gender roles I have a feeling Mrs Court might have been the main breadwinner in her household and that her husband just followed her around the tennis circuit.

R278, right on to what you said about that era. I don't suspect any girl on girl action (though she won a lot with Virginia Wade, lol). Remember, Court denounced King while hitching herself to the off-court successes King helped cultivate: open tennis, Virginia Slims, more fame for the sport after King/Riggs match. Each sparked more personal income for Court.

I think Andy Roddick read our comments about his buzzed hair and sensibly wore a cap during his interview on Tennis Channel tonight. It's somewhat of an improvement, but he should've kept his hair longer.

[quote] I've met more than a few white women of her age who talk fondly about their days when "men were men" and society didn't "pander to all the minorities to be politically correct."

Basically, your average DLer.

You think they'll play the French Open with no spectators?

but RG just won't be the same without all the non-French players (besides Federer) being booed

Verdasco and F. Lopez are giving Isner and Harrison a run for their money on who counts as the ATP's biggest deplorables.

[quote] Verdasco and F. Lopez

Why them? What did they do?

How can Verdasco and Lopez be deplorable? They're Spanish. Are you saying they're fascists?

R284 do you ever get tired of hating?

Nevermind, I'll just block you.

Most tennis players (spanish or not) are conservative.

But on those cases conservative is not equal to homophobic (of course that's the case of Isner and Quarry too).

How do you know most tennis players are conservative?

Today is Shopbottom’s birthday. He was given a gift of a brain cell. That nearly doubled his intelligence.

Poor Shapo, held in disdain by DL for being young and having a good time. And both at the same time. That takes some nerve!

No, R291, we hold him in disdain because he’s so obviously dumb.

Dumb enough to ascend to the ATP tour in his teens. And you r292, precisely what world-class achievements did you attain before turning 20? And Monday morning quarterbacking doesn't count, m'kay

What does ascending on the ATP tour have to do with being intelligent?

Tell you what r294, you get yourself there and then tell me you're dumb.

I don't get the hatred for him either. He's cute and seems good natured enough.

because he loves Putin

R295, what are you talking about? In what world is "dumb" not the antonym of "intelligent?" Unless you mean "mute" which is demonstrably not the case. So you think that it isn't possible to be able to run and whack a ball hard and also be stupid? There are examples of very intelligent athletes but there are far more examples of highly athletically talented complete idiots. I have no idea if that applies to Shapo or not, but he doesn't strike me as someone who is going to become a neurosurgeon after he hangs up his racket.

I think that your cavalier use of the words dumb and stupid which you throw carelessly at a young man you've likely never met and gotten to know clearly exposes your calibre of character.

I very clearly stated that I have no idea whether or not that characterization applies to Shapo or not. I haven't called him anything at all. You were the one to equate intelligence with being successful on the ATP when there is no proof of that. Do you know him personally? If you do and you say he is intelligent then why wouldn't we believe you? Even if he is, that doesn't prove your assertion at all.

Shapo be dumb.

I think a lot of athletes aren’t stupid as much as they are uneducated. Their whole lives are focused on their sport; no one puts any pressure on them to learn anything else.

R289: Are you serious?

Tennis is an expenssive sport and most people who play tennis are from money. If you are really good and you are lucky maybe you can make it even if you are from a poor family (and there are a good bunch of cases) but most players come for rich families.

The whole sports are conservative enviroments, so in this case you have two factors.

And of course, everybody who follows players knows that most of them are not exactly liberal.

Spanish players showed their true colors on SM during this whole coronavirus crisis but they showed how they were before, in the Gala Leon as Davis captain debacle. Most of them are nice, most of them are not homophobic but they are conservative.

And conservative is very prevalent in american players too

R293: You don't need to be smart to be a successful tennis players, in fact nor Federer neither Nadal are known for being very inteligent and they are extremely sucdessful, but in Shapo's case he is not even inteligent as a tennis player, if he were, with his talent to make winners he will be way higher in the rankings

Borna

Juan Carlos Ferrero was not too keen to Zverev on a recent interview, he basically calls Sascha lazy and easily distracted, and it's very clear that Sascha's father was very collaborative all the time but the problem was with the son

Did any of you watch the Novak/Andy Instagram live? I really enjoyed it.

And Andy saying to Novak: "you always penetrated me very well" was hilarious!

A link if anyone is interested:

Nole.

R307 what time in the video does he say that?

About 50:25, R309.

Borna should not be allowed to wear long clothing.

World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, the current President of the ATP Player Council, revealed a proposal late Friday that would generate more than $4 million as part of a Player Relief Fund. The plan Djokovic outlined would see members of the Top 100 in singles and the Top 20 in doubles contribute based on a sliding scale. Those inside the Top 5 would put in $30,000 apiece, followed by $20,000 for players ranked Nos. 6-10, and so forth. The proposal is rumored to be targeting players ranked between No. 250 and 700, with $10,000 allocated to each.

R311, Borna should not be allowed to wear clothing.

I was totally moved by Murray and Djokovic. I cried a little, actually. I love them both and I miss tennis!

Did we know that Novak is an anti vaxer?

and he's also a Serb nationalist

I am a big fan of his but him being against vaccines would be highly disappointing.

I think the anti-vax stuff is consistent with Novak’s weird New Age-y food issues. I’m a huge fan, but he does have a broad streak of crazy in him.

On the other hand, when he won Dubai, he said he wanted to go undefeated for the whole year, and, the way things are going, that may actually happen.

Yes, I agree, R318...and that whole guru thing etc. He almost seems naive in some ways.

I’m going to Dubai!

I was surprised about Djokovic too considering he's no stranger to injections.

R321 cutta bitch!

Djokovic and Murray talking about their perfect players.

In the section on backhands:

ND: I would take you. Consistency, the fact that you don't miss much, you make the life of your opponent very difficult. I just couldn't penetrate through that side when I played against you...

AM: I think you penetrated me pretty well a few times.

Does Mr Spacey know that Novak "penetrated" Andy pretty well a few times? Does this confirm that Misery is just a whiny bottom?

I think we've seen that Andy Murray has a pretty wicked and twisted sense of humor. I love him even more because of that.

Murray is cool as AF in real life.

Murray's always had a great sense of humour and is a really good bloke. Can't believe people are only just seeing that.

I like Murray off court.

On court he's annoying as fuck with his whining, faking injuries between points

So apparently Novak's issues/concerns are with travel vaccinations not vaccines in general. Good.

R327.I agree

Misery team

Does anybody know if they suspended weeks at number during this hiatus? If not, it seems unfair that Nole gets all these weeks added to his total without having to play.

(Sorry if this was answered upthread, I haven't read the whole thing...)

R331, it is unfair but then again, Nadal will get a chance to win Roland Garros again for the 68th time this year whereas Djokovic is being denied a chance to try and defend his Wimbledon win due to Wimbledon being cancelled but not the French Open.

Nadal must be thrilled that he still gets a chance to tie Federer's total at the US Open and then surpass it at the French Open. Babs Bush would have said that the Covid-19 global crisis had worked out quite well for Nadal.

[quote] On court he's annoying as fuck with his whining, faking injuries between points

I have to agree with this, R327. I wonder if Judy still insists on including her son in a "Big Four" group even though Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are light years ahead of him in tennis accomplishments. Andy is at best a second tier champ like the Stanimal.

There aren't going to be any more tournaments this year, let alone Majors.

It's really Roger who is 'winning' with the outbreak.

Even if the French Open DOES go ahead (highly unlikely despite what kind of debt the FFT have gotten themselves into), the conditions will be completely different, and at that time of year will almost certainly be ravaged by rain delays and other issues. If the field is somewhat depleted due to travel concerns, then people won't view it as a legitimate slam for Nadal anyway. He's not getting any younger either.

By the end of the grass season he would have likely tied Federer (at RG) with 20 slams, Djokovic would have an extra slam (at Wimbledon), and they both probably would have racked up a few more Masters 1000 titles. A Madrid here, a Rome there... Monte Carlo or one of the Sunshine double events.

Meanwhile Federer was already going in for his surgery and planning on using this time to recover. Now he doesn't have to worry about them catching up to his record while he's away. Win for him, lose for them.

I agree with R335. There won't be a French Open this year. Trying to play on clay in France in September/October would be hellish. It'll be (relatively) freezing cold, windy and rainy.

They are freezing the number 1 weeks, R331. I think it is actually a bit unfair to Novak, since he would have stayed number 1 for a while if points were dropping off, but I understand why they are doing it. It is difficult to find a solution that is fair to all.

Granny Vee has been doing the lord's work this quarantine. We love a generous queen!

She also had Alex Zverev on her instagram live yesterday and got some closeup crotch shots (as well as some of her coach a few weeks ago). Zverev actually came across quite well when answering her questions, if a bit desperate to be liked and constantly talking about Grand Slams (I think within the first 30 seconds he had mentioned it multiple times).

She will have Gronk on later this week, hopefully she gets him to show his body off too lol.

^ can we get her to do a segment on Borna's ass?

R399 from your mouth to Jehovah's ears.

I am going to miss Granny Vee when she retires. She is such a breath of fresh air in a sport where she is surrounded by drama queens and attention whores, one of whom is her sister.

So Djokovic has revealed himself to be a right wing deplorable anti-vaxxer. Who’d have guessed?

HOT

R342: Almost all tennis players revealed themselves as right wing in this crisis, but that's nothing new

I don’t know if you can easily slot European players into U.S. political categories.

In Europe there's conservative and liberals too. And most tennis players are on the right (even some progay ones)

R346, I’m aware if that, but it’s going too far to call a non-American a “deplorable.” That’s a distinctively American tern for a Trump supporter.

but if you support something similar, you're a de;plorable

a Boris Johnson supporter is basically the same thing

so is a Putin supporter etc

If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it usually is a duck, r347.

R342 cares far more about enforcing political orthodoxy than about tennis

Fandom drives people to take extreme positions, R350, especially in tennis, where, for reasons that I don’t understand, arguments about who is a better player—at least in the men’s game—frequently turn into arguments about who is a “better person.”

R351, I feel that this may be because tennis, more than almost any other sport, seems to be based on a "cult of personality" fandom. I also find tennis fans to be far more dismissive and disrespectful of former champions and obsessed with the stupid and pointless GOAT debates than in most other sports.

[quote] I also find tennis fans to be far more dismissive and disrespectful of former champions

I totally agree.

Well, people never really cared about Lendl and Sampras but their careers speak for themselves

It seems Thiem is not as flawless as it seems. He is totally against top players help economically players with lower ranking because they don't put all their effort on the game.

Well, he said that he never gave Mldona any gift because his gifts were not material (a suppose he is very good at sex)

R355 His comments were slightly more nuanced than that. He was saying that players so far down the rankings aren't full-time pro tennis players - they often have other jobs, so aren't really deserving of financial assistance from other players. His own brother is one of those players so Thiem knows what he's talking about.

No-one with the financial support behind them to be able to play tennis part-time is going to starve to death.

Low ranked players have other jobs? Since when? Domi needs a reality check. Any player ranked between 100-350 can only play tennis to maintain a ranking like that.

Benoit and Stan discussed the rumors that they were lovers on their recent IG live.

R357 They're paid as hitting partners. They teach at tennis schools. They receive a lot of funding from tennis federations. The tiny amounts of money the lower-ranked players earn isn't enough to sustain a full tennis schedule. There have been so many articles about life for lower-ranked players - they don't earn enough through tennis to be able to travel to the next tournament etc. They have to support themselves in other ways, mostly through private lessons, being paid to hit with higher-ranked players or working at tennis academies.

Are they journeymen?

R358 what did they say?

Regarding the WTA/ATP merger discussions, I hope the WTA aren't just bending over in the negotiations. They should be very aware that they have several young, promising, slam-winning players with marketable or at least likeable personalities and relative consistency (Osaka, Barty, Andreescu, etc.), as well as a few sex symbol players and other big or recognisable names (Halep, Gauff, Kerber, Azarenka, Muguruza). Not to mention the big $$ from Chinese tournaments.

The ATP might be doing better right now but what happens when the big 3 retire? You have a generation of players around age 30 who haven't even sniffed a slam, and younger guys who are more known for their tantrums than their tennis, none of whom are registering with people who aren't already fans of the sport. How many seats is a slam final between Sissypants and Medvedev realistically going to sell? It wasn't SO long ago that the womens' tour was a much stronger 'product' than the mens' in the era of Hingis/Kournikova/Williams/Williams/Davenport/Henin/Clijsters/Mauresmo.

I think combining the governing bodies is a great idea (not necessarily combining every tournament). And hopefully they can streamline to the same points system and names of the various levels (Premier Mandatory / Premier 5 / Premier / International is so ridiculous compared to the ATP's much easier 1000, 500, 250 system).

Who are the sex symbol players in the WTA these days?

R356: His words were incredibly tone deaf. It was a little excercise of solidarity (of course its not top players business to sustain lower players but the atp and itf, prizes weren't increasing on itf for decades) nothing more than that and maybe he even has a point but it sounded really bad, like someone so greedy that doesn't care nothing more than his ass (no matter his ass is glorious in this case).

The situation of lower ranked players can differ a lot, it's obvious someone like Gulbis doesn't have a problem and doesn't need money, there are people who were way higher in the past so probably they have money, and even between the newcomers, the ones who were top juniors like Kuhn or Molleker probably have sponsors that will let them skip the problem.

But the ones who doesn't have someone behind supporting them, those have a problem, and the fact that they didn't reach top 100 yet doesn't mean they don't have top player potential, and there's Berrettini to prove it, a player who was almost 23 when he reached the top 100 and at 24 he was top 10.

Thiem reminds me of Ayn Rand and all that bullshit, but the truth is most people got there because they have support not only by themselves

R362: I don't know if it's a good idea going there right now.

Wta is on a weak position righ tnow, but in a couple of years (bye bye big 3) with some of the new players, with Gauff making a lot of noise, the situation could be totally different.

Anyway, Kyrgios is totally against this, and he is as always the voice of reason

Disappointing comments by Thiem for sure, and I generally really like him.

R363 Yastremska, Sofia Zhuk (who is basically a full time model now), Kalinskaya, Giorgi, Tomljanovic, Goerges (mostly just for the rack), Vekic, Kontaveit, Kostyuk, Muguruza, Lizette Cabrera, Priscilla Hon, Anisimova, Cirstea, Alize Lim, Tessah Andrianjafitrimo, and several others seem to be popular on tennis twitter, tennis message boards, and those pervy straight guy sites lol.

None of these are to my taste (i'm more of a Borna Coric fan... lol), and of course none of them are that famous yet either (certainly not on the Kournikova level) but if you click on almost any WTA player's instagram, they are trying to market themselves as the next tennis sex symbol. And quite smartly too, it's all about that endorsement $$$.

LoL! :)

And who can forget the ludicrous Sloane Stephens Sports Illustrated shoot? Lol. If only she put in as much effort on the tennis court. Svitolina has also done shoots like this.

Re: Thiem's comments, he's always come across as a bit spoiled and egotistical. I know most on here sided with him during the Serena debacle at RG last year but let's be honest... it was a bit diva-esque. He's been raised in a very wealthy bubble and making at least 6 figures since he was very young. It doesn't surprise me he has no idea what the lower-ranked players are going through.

yeah I can't wait for the day the bubble bursts on the ATP tour. A lot of the guys have gotten so arrogant in thinking their tour is just so much more superior to the WTA but just wait until the big 3 are gone...

we've seen the other top 15 players in the last couple years be very up and down. We'll see a bunch of 1 slam random winners too. We'll see some vulture out a few. It's going to be an unstable mess and just watch-if the WTA becomes more consistent at that time we'll start hearing the old early 00s narrative "oh the WTA is so predictable it's boring"

I have a feeling Gauff isn't going to live up to her hype and that she will be eclipsed by someone else quietly coming up through the ranks.

Yeah but Domi has a nice ass.

R371 it's already happened.

I didn't think Thiem's comments were so bad. Bits and pieces are being taken out of context, and by themselves they make him sound harsh. The players shouldn't be FORCED to contribute; completely fine if it's voluntary, and then they each deal with the repercussions of deciding not to donate.

R367: I think Zhuk retired or at least give herself some time tired of dealing with injuries

I love this:

Good for him, R376.

Any DLers texted Kyrgios yet?

R378 he gave his number out?

On his insta, Sissy held up a sign saying call me and a number...

Nick comments stop calling me!!!

Tipsy is a bitch. And Kyrgios must really like him because he was not mad at him

it's Agassi's 50th birthday!

Nadal doubts that the tour will resume this year.

Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova did a very entertaining q & a video on instagram. Both look great.

Whom is Chris Evert involved with these days? Does she have a new man in her life?

[quote] Does she have a new man in her life?

Why don’t people ask that about me? Everyone knows I’m all about the mens.

Ms Shriver @ R386, are you still pretending to be straight? Wendy Turnball claims that the two of you are very 'intimately' acquainted.

Wendy Turnbull is a woman? Could’ve fooled me! I thought she was a “bull” of a man. See what I did there? Haha!

Was a huge fan of Chrissie Evert r228. What can you tell us?

Is there a new (not found in search) thread or is the tennis news non-existent?

Has anyone been following Venus on social media during the lockdown? She's been quite active and displaying a fun side to her that you don't often see on the court.

Out of sight, out of mind.

R390 this is the current thread but there's no tennis so for once we might get to 600 replies again. The decreased activity means the mods might not make it subscriber only haha

Apart of players controversies online (Nadal's uncle had to defend him today) there's really nothing to comment

Someone just created a new thread given that this one has been paywalled (thanks R392!). Thanks to OP of NuThread.