Tennis 2020

Some of the first round matches in Paris have me GAGGED.

Nothing is going to surpass the masterpiece that was Zvonareva - Niculescu in qualifying today but that would set the bar incredibly high.
 
Vika ranting about the cold is :D



"I live in Florida, I'm used to hot weather!"

she's right obviously, handled it like a boss.
 
She was right to question being out there to play or sit around waiting for the drizzle to go away. Some of yesterday's conditions were downright appalling, especially at the beginning and the end of the day. BUT, Roland Garros wanted their clay court Slam in autumn. They made the unilateral decision to jump ship and move to September/October. Now they gotta lay in it.
 
Collins riding it out to boot Muguruza out last night in a power-hitting epic, Halep flunking out to Swiatek today :disco: Ms Roland Garros is serving DRAMA :disco:

I'm watching Huge Gaston (20 year old French who beat Wawrinka in the third round) vs Thiem right now - Gaston looks so talented and is so likeable. Great variety of shots and court coverage. He's not exactly got the height advantage but the crowd are behind him (and it makes such a difference for an underdog player like that to actually HAVE a crowd to feed off). It's been a while since an EXCITING player broke through on the men's side!
 
Brutal display from Iga :disco:

Whatever happened to mid-match interviews? I would have paid extra yesterday to have Marion get Ostapenko's comments in the beginning of the second set when she began to self-destruct.
 
Nerd icon Iga has been INCREDIBLE so far. I'm totally fine with Swiatek winning RG - it probably will happen at some point down the line anyways but why not THIS YEAR.

DELIGHTED with Sinner having his Slam breakthrough. Super frustrated that his first full year in the Top 100 was cut shut but this run in RG is a nice bonus at the end of the year. His game off of the ground is by far the most impressive of the young guys. Hits the ball as heavy as Söderling but he's faster around the court.

Also :manson: :disco: at crazy Collins overtaking Muguruza one the home straight. Garbine faded quite badly in these last 7 games after being a double break up. Looked like one of her many weird losses of 2018, 2019.
 
Yes, Sinner has always stood out from the other young players with his game and on court demeanour. He’s on track to be a very very good player as long as he keeps injury free and maintains motivation.

Schwartzman looks like he’ll be a lot for Thiem to handle in the quarters.

Swiatek is similar to Sinner in the way she plays and carries herself. I’m hoping Kvitova can grab this (on paper) opportunity. Likewise Svitolina probably won’t have a better slam opportunity. Siegemund has been driving her opponents mad in these murky conditions, if her back holds up she’ll be a nuisance to anyone.
 
The storylines towards the end have been great for tennis fans, but not so much for the casual fans. Swiatek, Sinner and Collins all fun to watch for wildly different reasons. Danielle Collins is a lunatic. :D
 
Kenin always looks IN PAIN and never remotely like she's actually enjoying playing tennis. It's not very endearing, even though she's got a great game (especially at the net)
 
Kenin always looks IN PAIN and never remotely like she's actually enjoying playing tennis. It's not very endearing, even though she's got a great game (especially at the net)
She’s a grafter and mentally tough on court but yes she’s joyless in her play and there’s not much enjoyment to be had watching her either.
 
Nadal has taken an early lead with a double break in this first set but Djokovic is looking dangerous. I would say either Nadal in 4 or Djokovic in 5. His first serve needs to rapidly improve though.

Already some great points
 
Very happy for Swiatek. But I don't dislike Kenin the way many others seem to. Yes, she comes across as cranky and permanently frustrated and there's a bit of a vacuum in interviews but she's a very good competitor and ticks the "counterpuncher with an edge" box quite nicely.

If Osaka, Barty, Kenin, Swiatek and Andreescu stay healthy, the WTA could be in for a very fun ride this upcoming decade. Though Andreescu's injury mangement has been a disaster. There's a couple of very good support acts that could have breakthrough runs at any time, e.g. Rybakina, Yastremska, Anisimova, Sabalenka, though I feel they all still have some growing to do mentally and in their games. Also curious to see where Vondrousova is going to fit it. Her "I couldn't have done anything, she was too good" after getting drubbed by Swiatek in the first round sounded super weird two weeks ago but in the context of the tournament, she really just was the first of Iga's seven beatdowns.

As for Novak and Rafa - I cackled at the bagel and Djokovic having *such* a stinker of a day. Nadal played as well as I've seen him play in the past 2 or 3 years but Djokovic's hit a lot of bad UEs at the wrong time. And he should've aborted the drop shot halfway into the first set. That was not working for him on Sunday.
 
I got the impression the drop shot was 'the shot' for Djokovic - that he'd made a decision a month or so ago that this was what he was going to use and he just wasn't going to change it.
 
Nothing gives me more joy than the utter EXTRAVAGANZA St. Petersburg keeps putting up between match point and trophy ceremony. Polina Gagarina wheeling out ALL THE BOPS (and "A Million Voices").

 
(are we going to talk about the way tennis and tennis media is (barely) dealing with the allegations of abuse raised against alexander zverev or no?)
 
(are we going to talk about the way tennis and tennis media is (barely) dealing with the allegations of abuse raised against alexander zverev or no?)

They also ignored his coronavirus breaches earlier in the year too. They just don't give a shit.
 

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