Tennis Thread - Grand Slams & The Tour

Bit of a sap to put up the defence he did.

Fairly flimsy, whoops I DID have another property!

 

Yes very good win for Draper and for Joan Baez in Estoril!

We shall overcome indeed!

 

Thiem has lost his forehand and it's a sad sight to behold.

Murray didn't offer a solution I note to the AE ban.

 

A wrist injury finished Del Po. I fear for Thiem.

Ian Hewitt didn't handle the announcement as well as Philip Brooke would have done for starters. Having said that he took over and was given Covid to deal with and now this.

I don't think there is a perfect answer. The AE are a club and it's their tournament ( with some LTA assistance). Bottom line they can do what they want irrespective of ATP & WTA bleating about loss of ranking points etc. The prestige of winning will outrank any points the players may not accrue,not forgetting prize money.

I don't know anyone in tennis who disagrees with it,mind you most club members probably haven't heard! They'll be more worried about not receiving tickets for The Championships as the AE have changed the club ballot,not least because many clubs fiddled theirs ( not naming names!)

 

Shapo is such a brainless twerp! Loses so many matches by Alpha displays of hard,harder hardest, forgetting that Murray feeds of such 'tactics'.

Draper should have won. Ruble is always wobbly in the early rounds.

ER choked big time,when serving at 30-0 at 5 all.

She bounced the ball incorrectly and became flustered. Made a bad shot choice, taking a backhand up the line and netting,served a double fault and missed an open court on a backhand volley.

Missed opportunity.

 

Food poisoning it seems.

I'm not so sure. Good time to play ND and Murray would junk him around.

He now has to decide whether to play at the gorgeous Foro Italico. He may not receive a wildcard so would need to play qualies starting Saturday.

Ruble squeezes past Evans in a very close 6&5.

Evans slightly unfortunate.

 

First DG will be delighted to be back to that level and yes always a disappointment to get so close.
Norrie close to Alcaraz but not close enough.
FAA destroys Sinner and Zverev, Tsitsi also through.

 

Ah the Battle of Babolat.
Certainly is but remember it's Rafa's first tournament since a cracked rib.
Tsitsi wins in three v Ruble and in the last match of fetching Adinuf blue, Zverev in wife beater vest ( allegedly incase his legal team are reading tonight!) against FAA in bog standard crew neck t.
WBV currently a break up in the first.

 

FAA finds his forehand behind Fergus Murphy's chair too late and Zverev wins but has severe wobbles on his second serve again.

 

Alcaraz beats ND after beating Rafa.
Jabeur up a set, Petulant a break up in the second.

 

Yes not a classic in the final but OJ just good enough.
Tsitsi playing like a dolt at critical moments just made my day!
I'm off to throw myself off a very tall building,thrice!

 

Alcaraz crushing TWB.

 

TWB blames the schedule which is a fair point.
It was Flushing Meadows levels of unbalanced.

 

Another Italian with a great future it seems.
Luca Nardi loses 4&4 to Norrie but at 18 and just outside the top 200 looks to be one to watch.

Like Sinner,Sonego, Berrettini, Musetti....

 

When I began playing full time I had a year of constant niggles.

ER has hardly played on the tour so it will take her time to adjust and her body has probably only just stopped growing.

Add to that all the extraneous aspects it's been a draining time for her.

Tsitsi plays Dimitrov again!

Ruble out early.

 

The Grand Slam win was a fluke.

 

I doubt she cares one iota!

Tsitsi wins nine games in a row to win in three against Khachanov.

Zverev in two v Alex DM.

Sabalenka and Swiatek through, Azarenka has a meltdown at spectators moving around in the stadium. She's played enough to know that's what they do in Rome and Flushing Meadows come to that.

 

Sinner,ND through,Ruud too.

Rafa clearly struggling with his foot problem.

Not looking good for RG at the moment.

 

That may be that for Nadal.

Could hardly move at the end.

Sad end to a monumental career.

 

Good to see Kasatkina back to her best.

 

Good win for Tsitsi.
Ruud beats Shapo.

 

Good match between Djokovic and FAA.
ND wins in straight to play Ruud.
Kasatkina wins again although Teichman withdraws in the second set.
Sabalenka also wins,as does Swiatek.

 

Swiatek destroys Sabalenka. Player defeats slugger.
Jabeur comes back to beat Kasatkina.
Tsitsi plays within himself,slices, drop shots and slow balls Zverev who eventually beats himself.
Djokovic in a very umpty mood now v Ruud.
Very juvenile at present.

 

Swiatek 2&2.
ND 0&6.
Qualies for RG begin this week.
Alcaraz,ND favourites in men you'd think.
Smart money on Swiatek too.