The Tennis Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

Well, in Sock's defense, he does have a Major in Mixed Doubles and a Major in Men's Doubles, so he has, at least, achieved something but he's more of a late bloomer in terms of being a singles player.  He got to the finals in Auckland but a lack of fitness did him in against Roberto Bautista Agut, who had no such problems.  Sock had to retire, I believe.  

 

Sock is definitely not the next Andy Roddick and if anyone was hyping him to be, they did a disservice to both guys but I think his doubles success has helped him improve his singles game.  In terms of Singles success, he can snatch one or two smaller tournaments but I don't see any Majors for the foreseeable future but with Novak beating most everybody, there's very few big titles to go around.  Whatever Novak fails to get will be snatched up quickly by either Stan, Federer, Murray or Nadal.  I'd love to see a brand new champion, even a first time Champion to win Oz but honestly, I'm not going to hold my breath on that one.

[Soapsuds]

Sock plays Fritz in first round….2 Americans…should be interesting and you know ESPN will be covering the match. Ryan Harrison got a Russian  player as his first round opponent…he has a chance….ESPN has coverage starting at 6 pm central time….

[DramatistDreamer]

I'll be watching online.  The only good thing about ESPN3 is the sheer amount of choices of matches to watch and I can usually avoid the ESPN commentators.

[Soapsuds]

Ha!

 

The top half of the draw plays today. Joker, Roger, Berdych, Dimitrov, Serena and more play today.

[DramatistDreamer]

All of a sudden, all these semi-researched articles about match fixing have cropped up over the last 24 hours.  No doubt match fixing is real but all but one of these articles are several years old.  Why now?

[Soapsuds]

Im wondering who the players are?? One is a former US Open champion….and more than 8 are playing the Aussie Open…hmmmmm

[ChitHappens]

Nadal, Vee, Halep all out in R1. SMDH at Halep. She's mentally blocked.  

DD, why do you think WCs were harmful to Harrison and Young? 

[I Am A Swede]

Yes! Nadal is out, out, out!!  

(Can you tell I'm not a fan? )

[Soapsuds]

Im glad he is out too. Ive never been of fan but Joker is so annoying and such a boring number 1 player….dont want him to win again this year.

Halep is a hot mess….LOL…Her coach Cahill….LOL….the looks on his face as Halep was losing was priceless…..LOL

I wish Vee would have won. I loved the resurgence of her game last year.

As for Harrison….everyone says he works real hard at trying to the best….WCs IMO should go to players who deserve them….never thought he earned of them. He got them from being overhyped. Thats the problem with american males on tour….the media….ESPN …looking at you….commentators that is…and now some of Tennis Channel commentators pimp the males to the hills…..from Harrison to Young to Isner to Sock…..and none have really achieved greatness….some have totally failed…Harrison…looking at u…sorry…..LOL….his first round loss again this year was disappointing…..some of these players need to give up the sport and get a real job…..

 

As for Sock….was hoping Fritz would win…Sock is still not feeling well….rolled his leg for playing with the flu…sorry Sock you are no Serena Williams….he should have retired and let Fritz move on to round 2….there is no way Sock will win or advance much farther with his illness...

[Soapsuds]

Also…can Lleyton Hewitt retire already? Gawd….he rarely gets out of the first round in majors or any tournament and he is still playing..he is so darn annoying….his game left him years ago….and the way he acted last night you'd think he was playing in the finals….he was playing an Australian reject in the first round GMAB…...

And if I were ESPN and TC  Id be pimping more Noah Rubin instead of has beens like Harrison, Young and Sock(even though he is  24 but seems he has been pimped for many years), and others.

I am hoping Roger Federer loses tonight …after he fired Edberg…he is now on my Cht….list….LOL 

Roger was in how many finals with Edberg?  Firing his idol? I can just imagine what he does with his non friends …..I have a feeling Roger isn't the goodie two shoes he is…the match against Joker at the US Open comes to mind….where he acted like a baby after he lost to him a couple of years ago….LOL

Edited January 19, 2016 by Soapsuds

[ChitHappens]

[DramatistDreamer]

 

I started to reply but I think I got caught up with something else and never returned, sorry Chit.

 

Yeah, seeds are dropping in Oz, Petra is the latest. Vee is my heart but she's got to heal that thigh, it's been wrapped since October of last year!  I am not sure what is going on with Halep but she appears to struggle with the weight of expectations these days.  I remember reading that she was being stalked last year so I think she really prefers being on the rise and in the pack and being in the hunt rather than in the spotlight being hunted by lower ranked players.  Rafa, I read at the end of last season that Uncle Tony mentioned considering adding to the coaching team if things don't improve.  I wonder if this still stands...

 

I appreciate wildcards in moderation.  Many have mentioned that Harrison received too many too often and I remember the times Young got multiple WC even past the point where I thought he might benefit from qualifying.  JMO but I think too many WCs too early in his career prolonged his struggle, he was not fully developed (15 yrs old), and much shorter than most of his opponents on the ATP Tour and he got thrashed constantly by bigger stronger men when he was still a teenaged boy.  You could see the toll it was taking on his self confidence but instead of playing more Challengers and maybe just building confidence with more wins, he kept taking more wildcards and more losses (I think Donald somehow believed that him being a lefty would be more of an advantage than it was).  It was painful to watch.  I think once he fell out with the USTA and they withheld WCs from him (out of spite, imo), he actually committed more time to playing the Challengers and quietly got more wins, more confidence and when he did get on the Tour, it began to pay off.  Even in his losses, I could see progress, he was not getting consistently thrashed like he once did.  And his run at last year's USO proved that he put in the work and he's capable of beginning to make good on his talent.  He's still a bit shorter than a lot of the others but if Kei can be in the Top 10 and Ferrer can get to finals and win tournaments, I don't see why Donald couldn't accomplish similar results.  There was a time when he used to beat Kei when they were Juniors.

 

As for Ryan, this is going to sound judgemental but I think he believed his own hype that he was supposed to be the heir apparent to Roddick, the next great American player and somewhere along the way, he became self entitled and started acting like a brat.  Despite his claims that he has matured, his unnecessary scuffle with Kokkinakis last year in Cincinnati shows that he still has a lot of growing up to do.  Harrison is already being surpassed by Jack Sock, who was born and raised in Nebraska like Roddick and really is now being seen as Roddick's successor.  At least Sock doesn't seem to be falling for the hype.

Edited January 20, 2016 by DramatistDreamer

[Soapsuds]

The top half of the draw of the men's seems more entertaining than the lower half draw. There are some good 3rd round matches coming up tomorrow night.  Roger vs Dimitrov…..to name one….

[DramatistDreamer]

Supposedly, this is the article that many are referring to.  I'm a bit suspicious of Tumblr as a source of valid information.

 

http://showlegend.tumblr.com/post/137644525409/the-buzzfeed-15-exposed

 

 

[Soapsuds]

Wow..Lleyton Hewitt??