The Tennis Thread

[Soapsuds]

Raonic foot was injured during the Aussie Open I believe he won't be playing next week in the desert …love that tournament….I hear that Venus will finally return to that tournament too.

[DramatistDreamer]

Yes, she wrote a very moving essay for the Player's Tribune:

 

http://www.theplayerstribune.com/venus-williams-indian-wells-tennis/

 

[Soapsuds]

Im glad she is playing. Indian Wells is one of my favorite tournaments of the year because of the location and it features both the men's and women's tour.

[Soapsuds]

Apparently Hewitt is not playing singles for Australia …it will be Groth

 

Starting in one hour

[DramatistDreamer]

Thanks for letting me know about the start time because I was wondering about that.

 

Lord, a team that has to rely on Bernie Tomic!  How did Australia go from the favorites to having few options left?

Edited March 3, 2016 by DramatistDreamer

[Soapsuds]

Hahahaha…looks like John will take the first match from Groth. Interesting how their is a rift between Courier and Gimblestob on how John Isner should be coached….LOL….It looks like they don't like each other…..Gimblestob was trying to get in contact with Courier to no avail….only talked to loser Jay Burger about Davis Cup.

[DramatistDreamer]

Thankfully, I stream matches so the times I have to listen to Gimelstob are few and far between.  Every tennis fan that I know that has the Tennis Channel seems sick of Gimelstob!  

Maybe Courier believes that Gimelstob should try to do one job well instead of doing 3 or 4 very badly.  I could understand Gimelstob rubbing Courier the wrong way and Gimelstob has no business commentating during Isner's matches but it's really the TC's fault for allowing it.  

Part of me wishes I could have seen Courier freezing out Gimme-stob.

 

As I type this the Aussie crowd are trying to muster a big cheer for Tomic before the next rubber and I'm thinking that they'd better try to show some enthusiasm because at this point, Tomic is all they've got!

[Soapsuds]

I kind of noticed rumbling last year on the US Open between Courier and Gimelstob when John wasn't going to be available to play Davis Cup. IMO I think Courier felt it as Gimelstob not to play on the team. I can't stand Gimelstob and I agree he should not be covering John's matches. Tomic vs Sock should be interesting. I could see the match going either way.

BTW…I am surprised John took the match in straight sets.

[DramatistDreamer]

 

 

Strangely, I'm not.  I remember last year watching Sam and Lleyton play the Murray brothers during Davis Cup and was surprised at how many times Sam double faulted.  I think some of it was nerves at that time but it was Sam (and surprisingly not Lleyton) that actually lost many of the points for Australia.

 

I also remember Frances Tiafoe taking down Groth in what was Tiafoe's first professional tournament.

 

For such a strapping guy, Sam gets surprisingly little consistency from his serve.  For every ace, it's like 2 DFs.

 

I know Tomic gets made fun of a lot (and deservedly so, most of the time) but he is really playing a mature, focused match so far.  He looks every bit the experienced player right now and experience seems to be winning in this tie.

 

Edited March 4, 2016 by DramatistDreamer

[Soapsuds]

Sock is looking awful and should be taking it to Tomic. Sock always disappoints. I have never gotten the love that has been given to Sock all these years.

[DramatistDreamer]

Sock did just get a break off Tomic's serve, so we'll see what he does with it.

 

I'm not sure what to say about Sock.  He's definitely a good doubles player but I'm not sure about far he can climb in singles.  In some smaller U.S. hardcourt tournaments he has done well.  He did surprisingly well one year on clay but right now I can't figure out where his prospects are.  Maybe it's going to take a few more years to develop and improve his game.  The only thing is, with a crop of young American guys coming up and seemingly making strides, does Sock have the luxury to take years to improve his game?

You can never give Tomic too much credit.  The commentator seems to believe that Tomic is tiring.  Aren't the men conditioned to play best of 5 sets?!

 

 

[Soapsuds]

Sock just won the third set. As for Sock ..he still looks out of shape. He needs to get into better shape. That is why he cramped at the US Open last year when he was winning. He looks overweight for me and a pro tennis player shouldn't look overweight. 

Edited March 4, 2016 by Soapsuds

[DramatistDreamer]

 

I wasn't looking too closely at Sock but I'll take your word for it.

 

Looks like sometime after I went to sleep (I just couldn't stay up any longer!), Tomic pulled out the 4th set.

 

Even though many of the young guys in Sock's age group look fitter, they could all do with more stamina and endurance and some program to prevent them from getting injured so much and to exemplify this, you need look no further than the Australian Team's young guns.  I know Thanasi is still rehabbing from surgery but even before then, he had that awful cramping incident at last year's U.S. Open and Nick seems to get injured and/or ill an awful lot!  The Aussie's used to have a rep for being very resilient but this generation seems like it could use a good dose of that.  I don't know maybe the calender is more punishing to the body now than it was back then?

Edited March 4, 2016 by DramatistDreamer

[DramatistDreamer]

Bud Collins is gone 

 

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[Soapsuds]

@DramatistDreamer Tennis Channel is having a tribute to him right now before the Davis Cup coverage.