Tennis 2025

Sardonicus

Sardonicus

WHADDA YOU MEAN IT'S NOT IN THE COMPUTER
Pronouns
He/Him
Joined
Dec 28, 2024
Messages
1,155
Location
La Isla Bonita
I don't have the posting privileges as yet to start a 2025 thread, although the season started a few days ago.

Djokovic facing Monfils for the 20th time in Brisbane Rd 2 - he leads 19-0 :o

Raducanu has pulled out of warm up events with yet another injury :side-eye:

Croatian HOTTIE Nikola Mektic (with Michael Venus) dumps out the insufferable Djokovic/Kyrgios duo from Brisbane doubles 💘
 
The world really has missed Kyrgios - out in Round 1 singles, Round 2 doubles... Oops.

Raducanu is an absolute joke. No time for her at all.
 
cwej said:
The world really has missed Kyrgios - out in Round 1 singles, Round 2 doubles... Oops.

Raducanu is an absolute joke. No time for her at all.
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I'm astonished at this point that Emma stayed healthy for 3 weeks to win the US Open. It was a unique set of post-Covid circumstances unlikely to be replicated though. At this point I can see her joining Chris O'Neil & Barbara Jordan as players with only one career title - a slam.

Kyrgios is I suspect a farewell tour. He's already saying he's got wrist pain after a couple of matches. I won't miss him, but he's already gotten a pass into commentary due to his "charisma" so I dont think we'll ever be rid of him.
 
Emma had a remarkable run at the US Open very early on in her career when she wasn't even a full time player, then the weight of expectation since has dragged her down, followed by a range of injuries. She must be doing something right considering her current ranking but the real test will be defending the points she earned and going further.
 
rhythmbandit said:
Emma had a remarkable run at the US Open very early on in her career when she wasn't even a full time player, then the weight of expectation since has dragged her down, followed by a range of injuries. She must be doing something right considering her current ranking but the real test will be defending the points she earned and going further.
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She's definitely proven to be a solid player when she actually plays, but I don't think she's consistent or injury free enough to hit the US Open heights again. In an odd way Emma has a similar weight of expectation to Kournikova - whereas Anna needed a small title of any description to give all the attention on her some legitimacy, Emma needs a smaller title to take away some of the feeling that her slam was a fluke. Her career trajectory would probably be a lot steadier without the slam, but I think she might also have ended up a decent player without any spectacular result. So it's a double edged sword.
 
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Rybakina, meanwhile, has re-hired the coach she's been rumoured to have been in a long standing abusive relationship with :angry: who has now also been suspended by the WTA for breaches of the code of conduct.

Not sure how this leaves her stint with Ivanisevic, there's clearly things going on behind the scenes we're not privy to.
 
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I guess we need a new thread for hot tennis chat so here it is.

My viewing interest seems to decline year by year having previously watched all I could. I put this down to many of my faves having retired and also modern ways of accessing/viewing tennis. I don’t feel I’ve enough time to warrant Sky’s subscription package and don’t feel like viewing via streaming sites or betting sites.
 
Thanks for opening!

@Moderator would it be possible to move the 2025 related posts from the other thread please? I didn't have the posting privileges to open a new thread.
 
Sardonicus said:
She's definitely proven to be a solid player when she actually plays, but I don't think she's consistent or injury free enough to hit the US Open heights again. In an odd way Emma has a similar weight of expectation to Kournikova - whereas Anna needed a small title of any description to give all the attention on her some legitimacy, Emma needs a smaller title to take away some of the feeling that her slam was a fluke. Her career trajectory would probably be a lot steadier without the slam, but I think she might also have ended up a decent player without any spectacular result. So it's a double edged sword.
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Also Bouchard.
 
Emma is losing her sponsors. She just unfollowed British Airways, Dior, Porsche (and Sir Andy Murray) on IG. Maybe it will take some pressure away. Hope she stays healthy and gets to relauch her career.
 
BoysForSeles said:
In fairness Eugenie’s 2014 was pretty amazing, semis at Australian Open and French Open, final at Wimbledon and last 16 at the US. But yeah the fall off is pretty shocking looking at that.
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Very Kournikova-esque. Anna was looking like a top 10 mainstay in 1997/98 with Wimbledon semifinals, Miami final, wins over Graf, Seles etc - unlike her, at least Eugenie managed to eke out a small title to back up her slam runs, although a lot more was expected.
 
Sardonicus said:
Very Kournikova-esque. Anna was looking like a top 10 mainstay in 1997/98 with Wimbledon semifinals, Miami final, wins over Graf, Seles etc - unlike her, at least Eugenie managed to eke out a small title to back up her slam runs, although a lot more was expected.
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Fair shout but Anna has the doubles results to further back things up. Not diminishing Bouchard's run in 2014, it was wild seeing her make that absolutely abominable technique work, taking ball "before the rise" (Chris Evert, commentator maven). Eternally grateful to Petra for clocking her like midnight and turning her back into a pumpkin though. I still have nightmares of Bouchard rocking up to press in her kimono.
 
wildchild said:
Emma is losing her sponsors. She just unfollowed British Airways, Dior, Porsche (and Sir Andy Murray) on IG. Maybe it will take some pressure away. Hope she stays healthy and gets to relauch her career.
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She won't unless there's a reboot of the people that surround her. Seized the moment financially after 2021 but beyond that it's been a myriad of bad decisions and questionable decision-makers around her.
 
Apoca said:
Fair shout but Anna has the doubles results to further back things up. Not diminishing Bouchard's run in 2014, it was wild seeing her make that absolutely abominable technique work, taking ball "before the rise" (Chris Evert, commentator maven). Eternally grateful to Petra for clocking her like midnight and turning her back into a pumpkin though. I still have nightmares of Bouchard rocking up to press in her kimono.
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The hype was INSUFFERABLE before the Wimbledon final when Queen Petra said ENOUGH & handed out a THUMPING FOR THE AGES :disco:
 
Apoca said:
She won't unless there's a reboot of the people that surround her. Seized the moment financially after 2021 but beyond that it's been a myriad of bad decisions and questionable decision-makers around her.
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She is beyond insufferable now. Every couple of months I think I'll give her another chance and she pisses me off again with either a dumb interview or another 'niggle' of an injury.
 
cwej said:
She is beyond insufferable now. Every couple of months I think I'll give her another chance and she pisses me off again with either a dumb interview or another 'niggle' of an injury.
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I find this really questionable to call someone "insufferable" because of "another 'niggle' of an injury". We don't know anything about what is happening in her background. Didn't Rybakina's recent rumoured mental woes get attributed to being minor injuries? We really don't know what is behind all of it, but in 2025, it feels a bit off to me to use that to attack someone as "insufferable".
 
Naomi Osaka just retired from her final against Clara Tauson in Auckland, promptly followed by Reilly Opelka retiring from his final in Brisbane. :shock:
 
My viewing has been shoddy since the 00s tbh. I've always relied on watching YouTube highlights, except for the Slams where I'll make more of an effort to catch things as they happen. I managed to attend multiple tournaments last year for the first time ever and realised how much I relish the live experience so I think I'm gonna try and hit up the French and maybe the US this year - but let's see if the budget extends that far. :/

I'm still struggling with the fact that the two players I've most often rooted for the last few years (Sinner and Swiatek) have... clouds hanging over their heads, to put it mildly. That said, it's nice to see all the top women come right out the gates in good form. I reckon it's gonna be hard for anyone to hit through a confident Gauff atm, I'd make her a co-fave for the big one with Sabalenka. Iga's mentality remains questionable (despite many positives this week), and Rybakina's coaching drama is troubling. Both flopped early in Melbourne after playing well in the lead-ups last year iirc, and for the WTA's sake I'd like them to avoid a repeat this year.

Can't really comment on the men without getting a glimpse of Jannik and Carlos. Are neither of them playing warm-up tourneys? Re: Novak, if he's in his 'handing out wins to any scrub' era could he not have chosen poor 20-0 Gael Monfils, sigh. And what are the odds that Sir Andy is sabotaging his longtime tormentor's final days, eh! :disco: I've never really understood the collective problem with Djokovic tho. He's dealt with the general media/crowd bias against him with more grace than most would have imo. And I say this as a diehard Fed fan who will forever be haunted by 40-15 MP (all of them! I was despairing about Wimby 2019 with the racquet stringer just the other week lol :(). I'd be happy for him to nab #25 somewhere and wipe Margaret Court from any contemporary relevance (Steffi should have done this for us long ago). When is the AO gonna give us the Evonne Goolagong Arena we deserve?

As for Raducanu... I was rooting for her. We were all rooting for her. Time to cut the losses, smh. Same goes for Kyrgios who I thought a breath of fresh air when he first burst onto the scene, but whose antics ever since have been majorly ick. The lack of maturity never ceases to disappoint.

My sole plea to the tennis gods this year is to allow lovely Ons Jabeur to get her game and - especially - her head together for one more miraculous SW19 run, Novotna-style. My mind is still reeling from Marketa fucking Vondrousova Wimbledon champion. The fact that Wimbledon (currently the random Slam) and Roland Garros (era-defining players' happy hunting ground) seem to have switched their 21stC WTA roles gives me a sliver of hope. And as the iconic Babs Krejcikova proves, it is totes possible to flop everywhere else all season but put it together for two weeks in July, so this is all I'm asking for. Yalla, habibi! <3
 
I think Djokovic will put things together for one last slam. Agree that it's a shame neither Serena or Steffi put paid to Court's sham "record".

Ons needs to take Novotna as an inspiration, but I don't see her doing it. Jana lost her finals to Graf & Hingis; she took advantage when she got her Vondrousova opponent in Nathalie Tauziat. Age & injuries are a factor, but the ludicrous pressure she puts herself under is key. She was talking about winning the title to inspire Arab women, plus that she'd take time away to have a child if she'd won that final. Small wonder she collapsed mentally thinking about all these external factors.

And I like Marketa, but her slam coming on grass is a bizarre anomaly, although it shows the difference between a player putting herself under immense pressure in Ons, & Marketa swinging freely with no expectations as she never expected to be competing for the title.
 
Tbf to Court, she could only play against the opposition, and IIRC she was quite often the top player in many of the years that she won a 'weak' AO? There's also the fact that Slams in those days weren't at all viewed in the same way that they are now. Chrissie or Martina might well have had the record for themselves if they'd cared about making the trip to Australia more often, or if Chris hadn't been banned from her best Slam during some of her prime years. And Steffi (my all-time fave along with Roger) obv has questions over her numbers as well.

But regardless, let Novak have the record and retire in peace so that the rest of us can FINALLY and definitively move on from the Big Three era plz. Much as I loved it.

I hear what you're saying re: Ons @Sardonicus but please leave an old man in the comfort of his own delusions, thank u. SOMEONE has to believe in poor habibi cos she clearly doesn't herself. :(
 
old spice said:
Tbf to Court, she could only play against the opposition, and IIRC she was quite often the top player in many of the years that she won a 'weak' AO? There's also the fact that Slams in those days weren't at all viewed in the same way that they are now. Chrissie or Martina might well have had the record for themselves if they'd cared about making the trip to Australia more often, or if Chris hadn't been banned from her best Slam during some of her prime years. And Steffi (my all-time fave along with Roger) obv has questions over her numbers as well.

But regardless, let Novak have the record and retire in peace so that the rest of us can FINALLY and definitively move on from the Big Three era plz. Much as I loved it.

I hear what you're saying re: Ons @Sardonicus but please leave an old man in the comfort of his own delusions, thank u. SOMEONE has to believe in poor habibi cos she clearly doesn't herself. :(
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Mags was more often than not number 1, & back then Wimbledon was viewed as the ultimate goal in tennis, Oz was nowhere near the same level. So it's not as though she didn't deserve the wins, but looking at the draws, several are more like national championships, rather than majors. Although if Nav/Evert had known about the importance of slam numbers back then, they'd probably still be ahead of everyone.

It's only become a "thing" now the top players are chasing the slams above all else. In the days when Roy Emerson & Court held the slam records, it was just a "nice to have" on the resume.
 
Lots of what ifs in the women’s game.

^ Court basically won the Australian national championships and got a slam title in the process to have her inflated total. Of course the other players could’ve made the trip and chose not to.

Martina & Chris should have made many more if they’d made that trip or played the French instead of world team tennis. Even they have a what if in the form of what if Tracy Austin hadn’t got chronically injured at such a young age when she was already neck and neck with them from the ages of 16-18.

Not getting into the inflammatory Graf/Seles debate but without the stabbing Seles would have ended up with way more than 9, Graf with less than 22 but both would have won several.

Therefore I conclude it was Serena who is responsible for letting Court lead the pack. I don’t mind if Djokovic reaches 25, I don’t have a problem with him.
 
* Though I don’t mind when Novak loses because of the impact it has on many of his dreadful Twitter/X stans whose posts you have to ignore due to their borderline insanity.
 
Sheena said:
I find this really questionable to call someone "insufferable" because of "another 'niggle' of an injury". We don't know anything about what is happening in her background. Didn't Rybakina's recent rumoured mental woes get attributed to being minor injuries? We really don't know what is behind all of it, but in 2025, it feels a bit off to me to use that to attack someone as "insufferable".
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It's mostly the interviews that are insufferable.
 
With Rybakina the injuries were the official line but rumours were rife way before then, Vukov’s interactions and input with her courtside certainly raised a lot of eyebrows if not more for a long time, it was uncomfortable viewing at times. I just hope there’s not some sort of Stockholm syndrome there now that he’s back.
 
cwej said:
The world really has missed Kyrgios - out in Round 1 singles, Round 2 doubles... Oops.

Raducanu is an absolute joke. No time for her at all.
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Oz draws are out - Kyrgios drew Jacob Fearnley. If Jacob can deal with the partisan crowd, he can win this, he's a lot more match fit & in decent form. Fingers crossed for him.

Emma got 26th seed Alexandrova. Winnable match injuries permitting.

Sinner vs Jarry - tough opener; Alcaraz vs Shevchenko; Djokovic vs an American wild card I haven't heard of.

On the women's side, Sabs vs Sloane Stephens - hope Sloane shows up motivated for it; Gauff vs former champion Kenin; Swiatek vs Siniakova.
 
Basavareddy has had some pretty impressive matches in Australia so far this month, and he was one to watch at Decembers Next Gen finals, so he might not be the pushover Djokovic probably thinks he is.

I imagine Jacob could easily beat Nick, I guess it depends on the injury. :eyes:
 
well she's 22 years old and she's achieved more than you or I ever will so maybe 40-something men on the internet should cool it and get a little perspective.

I know some people have frustrations around Emma's choices but seriously - last year was her best since she broke through. there are encouraging signs. if she never makes it big again I'm sure she's at peace with that. if that invites vehemence and hate from people online... they should take a serious look at themselves and ask why they're so entitled. it's just tennis y'all.
 
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