Faulkner

It’s crazy that, in lieu of Hawkeye, that clay court tennis doesn’t have instant replay like many other sports. Like the ability to review video in the event of a dispute in which there’s no mark. It’s imprecise, but it would resolve issues with egregiously bad calls like this. The full exchange with Karolina:

Aaaaand Kei continues to thrive in three-setters with the win over Grigor. I love that guy!

Clay might not be her thing, but I suppose she’s having a rough patch. She has seemed emotional after the big IW win. A lot of stress and expectations. Djokovic had a comprehensive win over Basilashvili. Nikoloz clearly isn’t an elite level player but he’s a big hitter and if Novak was off, that could have been a difficult match. Glad to see him get through it. Still, I’m not counting my chickens until they are hatched, and we’ve seen Novak look unbeatable in one match only to completely collapse in the next. Fognini over Thiem! I think Dominic is probably exhausted from the big run at Madrid. Last season, Fabio really challenged Nadal in a couple matches only to throw in a bunch of WTF unforced errors. We’ll see if being on home soil again could allow him to make a run.

The Pliskobot is malfunctioning! 😂 Why was she so pissed at the chair? Saw that Halep returned the favor from Indian Wells with her beatdown of Osaka. Yikes!

He pretty much always beat who he was supposed to beat in the past, but he’s so much more vulnerable against lower-ranked players now. He could still play on, of course, if he remains healthy and still wants it. There are so many players who never contend for big titles who keep on truckin’ year after year. (Look at Kohlschreiber.) Tomas really seemed like he was on the upswing last spring into Wimbledon (where he played well).

I don’t find him to be a very likable or rootable guy, but I do too. I know he’s had a mental coach, but he’s been well-positioned to win majors and just never managed it. It’s definitely a head thing. He’s beaten all of the Big 4 multiple times (including SIX times against Federer, twice at Slams, once at Wimbledon), but just couldn’t do it when it mattered most.

Gotta hand it to Shapovalov. He steps it up. He could have been a Tommy Paul/Casper Ruud type flash in the pan, but he’s still in the mix nearly a year after his breakthrough summer and is now in the Top 30. He’s pretty fearless and gutsy, which you can’t say for a lot of his peers. Basilashvili is underrated eye candy. Cecchinato can’t capitalize on the home crowd. What is going on with Ash Barty?

His 3rd (after Rome and Montreal last year). He’s pacing ahead of Federer and Murray at this point. Djokovic had four at his age, while Nadal had 11 (!!!).

You can tell when it’s a Mulcahey script (I remember when Quinn had this long monologue about how women are punished for their sexuality, and I was like, yep, that is a PM script), but that show is a total waste of good scriptwriters (him and MVJ). He’s such a smart, interesting guy. An openly gay Catholic dude who is a major public figure in the BDSM/kink community.

Sascha Zverev.

It must suck to do the dirty work of defeating Nadal in a clay Masters 1000 tournament and not win the title. And it’s happened to Thiem twice in a row.

That was a gutsy win. I missed the first part of Eurovision because I was glued to that match.

There was a BBC adaptation a few years ago with Dan Stevens and Hayley Atwell that’s worth checking out.

That guy can *write*.

Grand Hotel, featuring Bryan Craig (ex-Morgan, GH) and executive produced by Eva Longoria (ex-Isabella, Y&R), has been picked up by ABC to series. http://deadline.com/2018/05/grand-hotel-whiskey-cavalier-dramas-picked-up-series-abc-lauren-cohan-the-walking-dead-1202388835/

THIEM! Let’s see if he can hold things together unlike last year in Rome. He’s never beaten Kevin Anderson, but of course they’ve never played on clay, Thiem’s best surface. Nadal has always been most vulnerable on the Madrid/Rome swing, peaking at Roland Garros.

Whoa. Kvitova took Kasatkina out to slaughter. Good semi matchups with Kvitova/Pliskova and Garcia/Bertens. The men’s matchups for the quarters look fun too. Nadal/Thiem. A Miami rematch between Sascha and Isner. A young gun battle between rivals Shapovalov and Edmund. The only one not as interesting is Anderson and Lajović.

Haha! I saw! Good that Kiki B could do what Kiki M could not. In less happy news: I saw that Lajović took out Delpo.

Oh I just meant that he’s been poised to break through on that household name status. I know he’s been in a ton of big stuff.

Looks like he’s finally going to the next level.

I was just about to give Mladenovic props for going hard against Sharapova. And then she surrenders a 3-1 lead and let’s Maria walk all over her. Pathetic. Hopefully Bertens gets in that ass tomorrow. I don’t even know what to say about Novak. He basically gave that match away. Sometimes it looks like he’s hungry and then he turns on a dime and looks completely apathetic. Makes it very hard to be a fan, so I might just pass on his matches until he can string together some convincing wins.

What’s he doing with Jeffrey? Did they make out?

You think? The only men’s match I’m anticipating is Djokovic/Edmund. The others feel sort of meh for me, at least in the matches tomorrow and the R-16 matches already set. Grigor is just so streaky. He won Cincinnati and the YE and has just fallen apart.