Topic: The Tennis Thread - Sponsored By Melt-downium

[Nick110581]

This Tsitsipas - Medvedev match is going to be a good one. First set to Tsitsipas but Medvedev has gotten back into the 2nd.

Looks like Tsitsipas will go two sets up

[Ray K]

Hugely impressive straight sets win by Tsitsipas. Medvedev tried an underarm serve at match point down and it ...did not work.

Tsitsipas has looked really good this clay court season and hopefully he can give Zverev a hiding in the semis.

[Red-Soldier]

The winner of the womens will come from the Swiatek vs Sakkari match.

[sinnermichael]

Literally never heard of any of the female semi finalists.

[Ray K]

Sakkari looks like she could snap you in two in an arm-wrestling contest.

[The G in Gerrard]

The winner of the womens will come from the Swiatek vs Sakkari match.

Can't disagree with that.

Literally never heard of any of the female semi finalists.

Not a bad thing?

[sinnermichael]

Good to see Nadal getting tested.

[Wild Romany Boy]

Good to see Nadal getting tested.

Would be nicer to see him getting booted but it's the hardest job in tennis to beat him here.

Maybe the hardest thing in anything sport.

[b_joseph]

Good to see Nadal getting tested.

Sometimes it feels less like a test and more like someone poking a bear

[Hazell]

Literally never heard of any of the female semi finalists.

The French Open needs a new winner. Enter Sakkari.

[Nick110581]

Nadal just found another level.

Djokovic could still beat him here.

[Gerry Attrick]

Probably Maria Sakkari v Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in a Roland Garros final.

[Dan The Man 28373]

What's the likelihood of 2 Greek winners in the French Open?  I think Tsitsipas & Sakkari will at least be finalists.  Greece not exactly a hotbed of tennis though.

Krejcikova is one of the best doubles player in the world, no 1 seed in the mixed (got beaten in the quarters) & is no 2 seed in the women's & through to the semis.  She's obviously on her way up in the singles rankings as well, well into the top 30.  She may suffer fatigue in either of her semi finals, having played 11 games already during the tournament.


 

[TipTopKop]

Not a bad thing?

It's always nice to get new, fresh faces into the mix.

The problem with women's tennis however, is it's been a revolving door for years now. Only Williams, and recently Osaka had shown any kind of consistency.

It just becomes meaningless after a while, one new face wins it, articles come out saying this player could go places, and you'd never hear from them in meaningful fashion again.

We had a few that reached no.1 world ranking without actually winning a grand slam. That can't be right. There aren't many (or any) rivalries, it's just put some names in a bag and pull out two for the final.

I'm not even sure what the solution to this revolving door is.

[Persephone]

Nadal just found another level.

Djokovic could still beat him here.

If Nadal plays to his best he'll beat Djokovic, he is just a level above at RG. I don't think there is a player that's ever existed whose more suited to a particular tournament.

[Red-Soldier]

It's always nice to get new, fresh faces into the mix.

The problem with women's tennis however, is it's been a revolving door for years now. Only Williams, and recently Osaka had shown any kind of consistency.

It just becomes meaningless after a while, one new face wins it, articles come out saying this player could go places, and you'd never hear from them in meaningful fashion again.

We had a few that reached no.1 world ranking without actually winning a grand slam. That can't be right. There aren't many (or any) rivalries, it's just put some names in a bag and pull out two for the final.

I'm not even sure what the solution to this revolving door is.

Strange....I don't think it's even an issue that needs a solution.

I quite like the fact that the womens top 10 aren't streets ahead of the others, and that anyone in the top 50 has a chance of winning a competition, if they bring their best tennis.

[TheShanklyGates]

Strange....I don't think it's even an issue that needs a solution.

I quite like the fact that the womens top 10 aren't streets ahead of he others, and that anyone in the top 50 has a chance winning a competition, if they bring their best tennis.

Agreed.

I think some people are just pissed off they can't make easy money betting on the favourites

[Gerry Attrick]

Strange....I don't think it's even an issue that needs a solution.

I quite like the fact that the womens top 10 aren't streets ahead of the others, and that anyone in the top 50 has a chance of winning a competition, if they bring their best tennis.

You follow tennis, so you know all these players. For a sport to continue to thrive it needs people at the top of the sport that people who don't follow the Strasbourg Open can recognise. Tennis is quite fortunate I suppose because most of their big events are held simultaneously with the men's, so they are guaranteed funding and sponsorship even when it doesn't have people like Serena Williams to carry it but people aren't tuning in numbers to watch the final on Saturday, like they will be on Sunday when Nadal or Djokovic are playing.

[Crosby Nick]

Not had the pleasure of posting this for a while.

But Djokovic, what a knobhead.

[Andy82lfc]

Someone told him he had to get another vaccine at the end there.

[Wild Romany Boy]

You follow tennis, so you know all these players. For a sport to continue to thrive it needs people at the top of the sport that people who don't follow the Strasbourg Open can recognise. Tennis is quite fortunate I suppose because most of their big events are held simultaneously with the men's, so they are guaranteed funding and sponsorship even when it doesn't have people like Serena Williams to carry it but people aren't tuning in numbers to watch the final on Saturday, like they will be on Sunday when Nadal or Djokovic are playing.

Serena is close to 40 and, amazing though she is, she has been managing her schedule for a while. The tennis players who will become the faces of the sport, on the women's side, will just come through exposure in tournaments such as this.

Tennis has taken a battering because of what happened with Osaka more than who made it through a tournament.

Not had the pleasure of posting this for a while.

But Djokovic, what a knobhead.

Don't worry, he's going out tomorrow. Sad for me though because I like the guy who is gonna do it even less.

[Nick110581]

Not had the pleasure of posting this for a while.

But Djokovic, what a knobhead.

What’s he done now ?

[Crosby Nick]

What’s he done now ?

Was yet roaring and shouting away to his box in an otherwise empty stadium, first when he wasted a match point and then when he won.

Hadn’t seen much of Berettini before. Big serve and forehand was a real handful but his backhand was pretty weak. Good to watch though.

[Nick110581]

Was yet roaring and shouting away to his box in an otherwise empty stadium, first when he wasted a match point and then when he won.

Hadn’t seen much of Berettini before. Big serve and forehand was a real handful but his backhand was pretty weak. Good to watch though.

Standard from him. At least, he wasn't feigning injury.

[Crosby Nick]

Standard from him. At least, he wasn't feigning injury.

He did have a couple of falls but sadly no real damage done.

[TipTopKop]

Strange....I don't think it's even an issue that needs a solution.

Not strange at all though. You need rivalries, you need that familiarity of certain faces of the same players going at it and all the drama that brings. All of sports from Snooker to footy to tennis itself to F1 has been at its most compelling when you find some history between the two competitors going at it.

A cinderella story is a wonderful thing, but it is wonderful because it doesn't happen every tournament. We just had the French Open champion -the highest seed remaining- get wiped out in straight sets on the surface she's had most success in. This wasn't an epic 6-7 7-6 7-5 tussle, just skittled out in straight sets by a relative nobody.

The Women's world No.1 ranked player only has 1 grand slam to her name, and she won it 2 years ago.

[Andy82lfc]

Was yet roaring and shouting away to his box in an otherwise empty stadium, first when he wasted a match point and then when he won.

On purely a sporting level, personality aside, I actually really liked seeing his reaction. The guy is one of the best players in the games history and I think him reacting like that after so many slams already shows what type of obsessive nutcase it takes to be that ridiculously good almost every single year. Sure Rafa and Federer have their own ways of showing it but everyone is different. Kind of like seeing that rage of passion though, much more revealing than a fall to the floor and then clapping the crowd with your racquet, not that there's anything wrong with that either 

[S]

I don’t dispute his insane talent and I don’t dispute that you could easily make a case for him being the best ever.

Can’t help it though, I just really dislike Djokovic. Hope Nadal wins but never, ever write off the Serb. Weird that Federer will eventually have the third most slams.

[Wild Romany Boy]

I don’t dispute his insane talent and I don’t dispute that you could easily make a case for him being the best ever.

Can’t help it though, I just really dislike Djokovic. Hope Nadal wins but never, ever write off the Serb. Weird that Federer will eventually have the third most slams.

I'll always love Federer the most, it would take a hell of a lot for me to stop disliking Nadal the most.

Djokovic may be the best of all time and he won't be as remembered as either man.

[Andy82lfc]

I don’t dispute his insane talent and I don’t dispute that you could easily make a case for him being the best ever.

Can’t help it though, I just really dislike Djokovic. Hope Nadal wins but never, ever write off the Serb. Weird that Federer will eventually have the third most slams.

He can be very dislikable for sure, and yes very odd Federer may well end up with less, he is the best ever imo but in the future some people tend to just gauge it on titles won.

[Crosby Nick]

Before this generation came along who was regarded as the greatest ever? Fairly sure it wasn’t unanimously regarded as Sampras, more like Rod Laver or one of the older generation wasn’t it?

[amir87]

Before this generation came along who was regarded as the greatest ever? Fairly sure it wasn’t unanimously regarded as Sampras, more like Rod Laver or one of the older generation wasn’t it?

Tiger Tim

[Wild Romany Boy]

Before this generation came along who was regarded as the greatest ever? Fairly sure it wasn’t unanimously regarded as Sampras, more like Rod Laver or one of the older generation wasn’t it?

Sampras never had much success on clay. Sure, Federer was always stopped by Nadal but he's one of the greatest clay courters of all time playing in an era where the greatest one is present. All the big three have won all 4 slams, Djoko has held them all simultaneously. This level of skill across all surfaces - and they are closer to uniform than back in the day, helping someone with Nadal's skillset - is almost unprecedented.

I think Laver was regarded as the best, though maybe not unanimously. Always difficult to say across eras but, for me, combining the skills that make you go 'wow' and the winning element, Novak is the one for me.

[sinnermichael]

Everyone says Rafa Nadal is the king of clay, but I've never seen him make a ceramic bowl like I did at school.

Fraud.

[AndyMuller]

What time is Nadal v Djokovic?

[Ray K]

What time is Nadal v Djokovic?

Tomorrow not before 4.30. Other men's semi is before it.

Cracking women's semi on at moment - 5-5 in last set.

[sinnermichael]

Some game this.

[Red-Soldier]

Absolute quality semi that!  Not the greatest standard, but the drama and tension was right up there!

Didn't have a clue who would win it.

[TheShanklyGates]

Brilliant match between Sakkari and Krejcikova. Shame there had to be a loser.

Who gives a shit if they're not the top seeds, it was quality entertainment.

[Red-Soldier]

Brilliant match between Sakkari and Krejcikova. Shame there had to be a loser.

Who gives a shit if they're not the top seeds, it was quality entertainment.

Exactly.  Kind of pisses all over the moaners chips