Tennis Talk

[zippi]

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-03-23/ash-barty-announces-retirement-from-tennis/100932944

 

 

[Lazz]

Barty retiring doesn't surprise. She probably knows her reign at the top would be short lived. Better to quit while on top. 

 

Edited March 23, 2022 by Lazz

[stevoz]

  On 23/03/2022 at 6:18 AM, sir sanders zingmore said:

What is the relevance of her state of pregnancy

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  On 23/03/2022 at 6:37 AM, metal beat said:

 

Recently engaged, getting married soon,a bubs would be great. 

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Yeah, I was thinking maybe some Ash time or more to the point, Ash and Garry time.....for a while? 

 

Of course, that could well lead to bubs.

[stevoz]

  On 23/03/2022 at 8:52 AM, Lazz said:

Barty retiring doesn't surprise. She probably knows her reign at the top would be short lived. Better to quit while on top. 

 

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Are you actually serious? 

 

[cheekyboy]

  On 23/03/2022 at 8:52 AM, Lazz said:

Barty retiring doesn't surprise. She probably knows her reign at the top would be short lived. Better to quit while on top. 

 

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I think if Ash had continued, the commitment would have kept her on top for quite a bit longer, but even now that she has retired, she did hold the No 1 ranking for 121 weeks, which places her 7th overall highest and 5th overall for consecutive weeks at the top.

 

Can you nominate who out of the current crop of WTA players you think will even come close to that record, with or without Ash competing? 
 

The only current player ahead of Ash’s No 1 ranking record is Serena Williams and if you look at one contemporary in Naomi Osaka by comparison for example, she has held the No 1 ranking for 25 weeks.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

[LogicprObe]

 

It's about the will to win.

She had it.........................her aim was to win Wimbledon...................................the others are a bonus in such a short time.

 

Let her do want she wants.

I criticised her when she quit the first time and she came back and shoved pie into my, and many other's faces.

 

Good on you Ash!

May you find the happiness you seek.

[metal beat]

  On 23/03/2022 at 10:12 AM, cheekyboy said:

I think if Ash had continued, the commitment would have kept her on top for quite a bit longer, but even now that she has retired, she did hold the No 1 ranking for 121 weeks, which places her 7th overall highest and 5th overall for consecutive weeks at the top.

 

Can you nominate who out of the current crop of WTA players you think will even come close to that record, with or without Ash competing? 
 

The only current player ahead of Ash’s No 1 ranking record is Serena Williams and if you look at one contemporary in Naomi Osaka by comparison for example, she has held the No 1 ranking for 25 weeks.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

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Hi Keith, I think Ash is quite a bit ahead of the current pack

  Why?   She is an all court player with excellent technique.  In the past 18 months  she has turned her serve into a weapon.

 

  Look at Osaka.  She is a one dimensional hard court only player.  She would barely be ranked in the top 100 for grass or clay.

 

 But if Ash's will to compete at the very best both mentally and physically is not there, good luck in retirement. 

  

[Lazz]

  On 23/03/2022 at 10:33 AM, LogicprObe said:

I criticised her when she quit the first time and she came back and shoved pie into my, and many other's faces.

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As i've said previously, the womens game is quite poor atm. Osaka is only one a very few that has game. But, I guess all she can do is win, and win she has. 

[cheekyboy]

Hi folks, well, the late nights are on again and I've been sitting up watching the French Open and to be honest, struggling to stay awake, so I obviously need a bit of practice, but I think I'll come good before we get into the second week.

 

All the Australian men are out now with the loss of Jason Kubler last night, going out to Cameron Norrie in straight sets. I've watched Jason recently in a few Futures and AMT events locally in Australia and he pretty much dominated those circuits, but it is a little different when you come up against the world No 11 in Norrie and although the match was closely contested, Jason's relative inexperience at that level did show through on some of the big points.

 

Jason Kubler might not be well known to many Australian tennis fans, but he was a world No 1 junior and showed enormous promise at that time, but like many in this game, he struggled with injury, specifically knee problems and has had many operations over the last decade or so. He did spend many years avoiding all hard court events and had over one full year away from the game altogether, but it is good to see him back and playing competitively at a Grand Slam level and hopefully his first round win will boost his ranking and see him not having to qualify as he did here.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

Edited May 26, 2022 by cheekyboy

[zippi]

Was really glad to see Alcaraz coming back from 2-1 (having taken the opening set in style) to win in 5 sets against a seasoned, experienced compatriot Ramos-Vinolas, employing his already trademark flair and finesse (at the ripe old age of 19). The lad seems like having picked up right where he left off after Madrid masters win. Be interesting to see how far he might take it currently in Roland Garros 2022 and who might end up sidelined in the process.

 

A joy to watch and likely future of men's top 3 tennis.

 

 

Edited May 26, 2022 by zippi

[cheekyboy]

  On 26/05/2022 at 3:20 AM, zippi said:

Was really glad to see Alcaraz coming back from 2-1 (having taken the opening set in style) to win in 5 sets against a seasoned, experienced compatriot Ramos-Vinolas, employing his already trademark flair and finesse (at the ripe old age of 19). The lad seems like having picked up right where he left off after Madrid masters win. Be interesting to see how far he might take it currently in Roland Garros 2022 and who might end up sidelined in the process.

 

A joy to watch and likely future of men's top 3 tennis.

 

 

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Yeah, he should be favoured to beat Korda, but he'll need to play better than he did last night and should he get through that, he'll definitely need to lift his level against Norrie. I think he was a little loose last night and dug himself a hole that he was fortunate to climb out of. I really like the way he plays though and he has a maturity beyond his years, given he only turned 19 earlier this month.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

Edited May 26, 2022 by cheekyboy

[zippi]

Alcaraz shutting the door on Khachanov in 3 sets in one of those "oh no he didn't" matches last night. Eg - a scrambling, defensive desperation tweener from the baseline resulting in a perfect unreturnable cross court lob. Sure a fair measure of luck in it, though a generous measure of instinct, intent and ability.

 

Also Nadal grinding away the brilliant Felix Auger-Aliassime in a classic 5 setter. Felix a bit unlucky to run into Nadal, would have been a semis contender otherwise surely.

 

Was suprised not necessarily with the win but the ease with which Novak accounted for Schwartzman in straight sets.

 

Nadal, Novak, Alcaraz, Zverev, Tsitsipas, Rune, Rublev, Sinner, Medvedev, Cilic, Ruud and Hurkacz still in the mix - this French Open 2022 mens draw is really heating up.

 

Nadal and Novak set to clash next in the 1/4 finals - something to look forward to. Potentially a classic in the making, though may turn out to be a bit of a fizzer.

 

Alcaraz - Zverev in the other booked 1/4 final should be as good if not an even better match up to look forward to.

 

The rest of the guys still battling out the round of 16.

[zippi]

Another 19 y.o. future star of top tier tennis - Rune from Denmark just went nuclear to dispatch Tsitsipas in 4 and set up a clash with Casper Ruud of Norway in the 1/4's. The landscape of men's tennis is shifting noticeably. It's been some time coming for Rune, but got the job done in emphatic fashion today, as much as I was willing Tsitsipas to hang on in the fourth and perhaps force the 5th.

 

 

Edited May 30, 2022 by zippi

[cheekyboy]

Yeah, @zippi, I think the future of men’s tennis is looking good with youngsters like Rune and Alcaraz, to name just a couple, starting to make their mark on the game.

 

I wasn’t overly disappointed to see Tsitsipas lose as I haven’t enjoyed some of his dummy spits and petulant behaviour and I hope this loss brings him back down to earth a bit.

 

Anyhow, wheel out the veterans tonight which I’m looking forward to watching and with one of those two out and Medvedev now out to Cilic, it does open the draw up a bit.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

Edited May 30, 2022 by cheekyboy

[cheekyboy]

The Zverev v Alcaraz match has just finished, it’s 4:15 and Nadal and Djokovic aren’t up till 5:00, so hope I can stay awake for that match.

Zverev got up over Alcaraz in four and it was a quality match, particularly the last set and a half. In the end there was very little in it and I think Zverev was lucky to sneak it out in a 4th set breaker. Given the temperament of both players, I think Alcaraz would have won a 5th set had it gone that far.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

[cheekyboy]

Well, can this be grand slam singles title number 22 for Rafa at the French this year? A typical high standard match with Djokovic in the quarter final and the win sets up a semi final against Zverev. The old brigade not quite ready to hand it over to the youngsters just yet.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

[zippi]

Yes it was a classic night of tennis, both men's matches being exceptional.

 

Zverev really went for it and made the most of all his chances and advantages v Alcaraz.

 

Novak and Nadal really put on a show, in a classic titanic struggle of a tennis match. Although Rafa wrapped it up in four sets - it really almost felt like a 5 setter.

 

I'd have to agree @cheekyboy - cannot see anyone upsetting Rafa now. Surely an overwhelming favourite to take out his 22nd, and deservedly so.

 

Notably also, the night was started by an emphatic win by 18yo Coco Gauff in 2 sets over the more seasoned compatriot Sloane Stephens.

 

Quite a night of tennis at Roland Garros 2022 end to end.

[cheekyboy]

  On 01/06/2022 at 12:53 AM, zippi said:

I'd have to agree @cheekyboy - cannot see anyone upsetting Rafa now. Surely an overwhelming favourite to take out his 22nd, and deservedly so.

 

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Hello zippi, you would have to say that Rafa is favoured to win the title. I think his toughest match will be in the semi final against Zverev who is capable of upsetting Rafa on clay, having a win over Rafa in Madrid last year. The French is special to Rafa though and unlike Madrid last year, it's over 5 sets, not 3. 

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

[zippi]

  On 01/06/2022 at 1:13 AM, cheekyboy said:

unlike Madrid last year, it's over 5 sets, not 3. 

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that is the most telling part. Zverev is capable and in good form, riding something of a wave, so I wouldn't put anything past him. However Rafa is showing singleminded resolve and also form that's possibly even better than earlier in the year at Aus Open. And it's his favourite, most succesful Open by far. Plus he's keenly aware that opportunities such as this will be harder and harder to come by in the tail end of an illustrious career. he's sure to throw everything plus a kitchen sink at this tilt - just as he's demonstrated thus far. I'd like to see him pull it off - if it turns out he can keep up the intensity for another 2 matches, which - if anyone - he surely can.

[cheekyboy]

Yes @zippi I agree and I would like to see Rafa win his 14th French Open title and it's going to take one very special player to ever beat his current record BTW. It will be interesting to see if that Zverev semi final is a day or an evening match, with a day match probably being Rafa's choice.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

[cheekyboy]

Neither match tonight in the men's singles at the French reached the levels of the other two quarter finals, but I was pleased to see Marin Cilic get up, even though I did not expect he would beat Rublev..........great to see Cilic in his first French semi final and from what I saw of the last quarter final between Ruud and Rune, Cilic has got to be a good chance of making his first French Open final.

 

I don't think Casper Ruud lived up to his world number 8 ranking in his quarter final against Rune and I think he was struggling to control his nerves and tightened up at critical times, particularly in the second set. I haven't watched a lot of Rune, but I found his behaviour poor to say the least in this match, very petulant, screaming at his own supporters that reminded me of Andy Murray blaming his mummy for his poor performance on court, which is pretty pathetic really. 

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

Edited June 1, 2022 by cheekyboy

[stevoz]

  On 01/06/2022 at 11:33 PM, cheekyboy said:

Neither match tonight in the men's singles at the French reached the levels of the other two quarter finals, but I was pleased to see Marin Cilic get up, even though I did not expect he would beat Rublev..........great to see Cilic in his first French semi final and from what I saw of the last quarter final between Ruud and Rune, Cilic has got to be a good chance of making his first French Open final.

 

I don't think Casper Ruud lived up to his world number 8 ranking in his quarter final against Rune and I think he was struggling to control his nerves and tightened up at critical times, particularly in the second set. I haven't watched a lot of Rune, but I found his behaviour poor to say the least in this match, very petulant, screaming at his own supporters that reminded me of Andy Murray blaming his mummy for his poor performance on court, which is pretty pathetic really. 

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

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Rune's hand slap to Ruud at the end was.....rude. It appears that he has a bit of maturing to do but as Renee Stubbs said when he does, "Wow, look out!"

Edited June 2, 2022 by stevoz

[cheekyboy]

  On 02/06/2022 at 2:54 AM, stevoz said:

 

Rune's hand slap to Ruud at the end was.....rude. It appears that he has a bit of maturing to do but as Renee Stubbs said when he does, "Wow, look out!"

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I agree on both counts, but I missed Renee’s comments………did she do the on court interview, which I missed, as I had a vet’s appointment to get to?

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

[stevoz]

  On 02/06/2022 at 3:12 AM, cheekyboy said:

I agree on both counts, but I missed Renee’s comments………did she do the on court interview, which I missed, as I had a vet’s appointment to get to?

 

Cheers,

 

Keith

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Not sure, I wasn't watching.....just read her quote on the 'net.

[cheekyboy]

Hello folks,

 

I stayed up and watched the two men's semi finals overnight, so I do have some sleep to catch up on, even though I got a few s before the Nadal v Zverev match started.

 

The first semi was intense with the first set alone taking almost 100 minutes and the second set was not far behind it, when on the last point of the 12th game in the second set, Zverev went over on his right ankle and unfortunately, that was all she wrote. They took Zverev off in a wheel chair and he was not able to continue, although he did come back on crutches to acknowledge the crowd. Even though Rafa had won the first set and had just held his serve to force a tie breaker in the the second set, I had no confidence up to that point that he was going to go on and win, but knowing his level of match focus, especially at he French, it would have been hard to have bet against him.

 

The second semi final did not reach the same level as the first and Cilic's level dropped sharply after the first set and Ruud was clearly dominate in the last three sets. There is an argument you could make that Ruud would be the best clay court player on the tour after Rafa and Novak, but he will need to play flawless tennis in the final if he is going to upset Rafa in a French Open final.

 

The Rafa semi final took 3h 13min even though they did not finish the second set and by contrast, the Ruud semi final took only 2h-55min to play 4 sets and 10 more games in total. I'm used to watching Rafa's OCD ticks, the constant routine that he must repeat every point, the towelling off after every point and the length of time he takes to make sure the towel is placed back neatly and is just right...........at one point he even took a little longer by trying to bite off a lose thread on one of the towels, which was obviously playing havoc with his brain. Maybe I was just feeling a little tired myself last night, but these rituals really started to annoy me and all praise goes to Sascha for not complaining once about the amount of time Rafa was taking. At the end of the first set, Rafa was drenched in his own sweat and had to leave the court for a full change of kit, but before he left the court, he took a couple of minutes to take on food and fluids and then took probably 6 - 7 minutes changing his clothes, only to return and sit down again, drink more fluid and fiddle around getting his bloody water bottles just right and facing in the right direction!!

 

It probably won't happen, but I hope they take a stricter stance on the time he takes between points, the change of ends and how long he takes changing his kit if he needs to do the same thing in the final. Ruud is unlikely to complain as he openly regards Rafa as his idol and was apparently a student for a brief time in his teens at the Rafa Tennis Academy in Spain. Maybe it's just me, but I'd be interested to hear what others think of this time wasting by Rafa? All respect for how he plays, what he's achieved in tennis and how he conducts himself otherwise, but this happens in nearly all his matches and I really felt sorry for Zverev last night and it's the sort of gamesmanship [for want of a better word] that I'd like to see the officials come down hard on.

 

Cheers,

 

Keith