Faulkner

I don’t necessarily believe this but... Also... @Soapsuds this is indeed very entitled. Touché.

Novak should have gotten a warning for whacking the ball previously. They might have avoided all of this. The problem with tennis is that the rules are applied so inconsistently.

Rennae is right.

I don’t think he’s more entitled than any other top player, but he keeps handing ammo to all his haters this year. He was unlucky today, but he keeps being reckless with his choices.

Novak has come close to injuring linespeople before, and he hasn’t learned. I agree with James Blake here. It’s stunning, though. Wow. Most shocking turn of events here since the Serena/Naomi final.

Oh Novak. Just made a rough year worse with inexcusable (and entirely preventable) behavior...

Yeah, he just was the full package as a soap Everyman. Wholesome but not bland or weak, witty, lots of chemistry with partners, handsome in an accessible way. Sort of a Middle America archetype that would have been well-suited for a Bauer. Or another role. He would have been young for Rick, but I think he would have fit the MOL mold while executing on a higher level. (It wouldn’t have been a *totally* new direction in terms of look or type.) But, in any case, GL (or any soap) would have been lucky to have his presence onscreen.

Paul Michael Valley could have made a solid Rick IMO.

Kerber is undoubtedly rusty, but Jen Brady is in *stunning* form so far. @Soapsuds Your boy Dom said FAA is “good-looking.” 😂

From NYC 🇺🇸

Madison Keys just retired from her match. She looked in a lot of distress. Cornet vs. Pironkova coming.

Frances is really making Marton look pedestrian.

Pospisil is serving to take out RBA. We got one set of vintage Sloane and then two sets of her more recent sloppiness. A confident player could really trouble this Serena.

This.

From Cuba 🇨🇺

On a ‘90s alternative kick this morning...

OMG. Tsitsipas was playing so much better at the start of the fifth, and I fell asleep. I thought Coric’s almost 4.5-hr match against Londero would have taken its toll, and he’d run out of gas. That was a complete meltdown from Stefanos.

Wow at Stefanos imploding from 5-1 up in the 4th (with SIX match points) to let Borna take that set... Cliffy is right. Had there been a crowd, sh!t would be going off in that stadium.

LOL at the canned applause after double faults.