The Tennis Thread

[Soapsuds]

I guess Amelie wants to spend more time with her son. 

 

Thiem wins again!  A match away from maybe playing Roger.

[Soapsuds]

Sasha is all over Grigor….Grigor looks completely lost and just deflated …he needs to fire his coach…his game has gotten worse.

[Soapsuds]

Sasha beats Grigor…..Grigor looked lost and at the same time seemed like he didnt care anymore after shaking hands with Sasha.

[DramatistDreamer]

I don't know what to say about Dimitrov.  He may need some time off, where he can assess his game and his desire to play the game, without the media spotlight.  Maybe he needs a sports psychologist?  He and Davin may not be working out but I also think there may be some deeper issues there.

 

The Williams Sisters lost their doubles match, Venus actually slammed her racquet and got a warning for racquet abuse!  Serena couldn't stop laughing at this because it's probably been like 20 years since Venus slammed a racquet  and Serena is usually the one who smashes her racquet and gets the warning.  At least Venus won her singles 1st round, Serena plays hers tomorrow.

 

Nick Kyrgios called the bluff of some Australian Olympic official who threatened him and Tomic over the possibility of them not being picked for the team.

Nick Kyrgios calls Australian Olympic chief's bluff over Rio snub threat

 

Monfils lost to Belluci but he looked like he just wanted to have more time off .  I think it's for the best.  Hopefully he refreshes himself, stays off that ankle and resists the urge to do backflips or some crazy acrobatic moves as he's been known to do.  Or this:

I wish his coach wouldn't encourage him.

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Edited May 10, 2016 by DramatistDreamer

[DramatistDreamer]

 

 

 

OMG!  Goffin scores the double bagel over Tomas Berdych!  I didn't see the match but I saw the score.  WTF happened?!  Berdych isn't just in a slump, it looks more like the beginning of a freefall!  Unless, he just couldn't be bothered with Rome.  In either case, not good for him.  

Edited May 12, 2016 by DramatistDreamer

[Soapsuds]

The Tennis Channel didnt show the match but was updating the score….at the end they showed the last game….Goffin was just as surprised at how easy he won. The audience gave a few boos to Berdych. I don't know what was up with Berdych today. There are times he isn't even interested and comes out flat but today was really really bad. 

 

I was glad to see Thiem beat Roger. I wonder if Roger will pull out of Paris to concentrate on Wimbledon. He doesn't have a chance to win Paris even  if he were healthy. I hope Thiem beats Kei tomorrow.

[Soapsuds]

Del Po to miss French Open!

http://www.atpworldtour.com/en/news/del-potro-miss-roland-garros-may-2016

[DramatistDreamer]

Yeah, I heard.  He's supposed to play Davis Cup for Argentina.

 

So far about 4 players (all males) are skipping the Olympics, Thiem, Feliciano Lopez are two of them that I remember immediately.  Oh, Tomic is another.

[Soapsuds]

The Olympics are during the hard court season with the Canadian Open and Western Open in Ohio…two 1000 tourneys….dont blame them.

[DramatistDreamer]

Did I mention that Novak got bageled in the first set of his match yesterday?  Obviously, he recovered though.  I never thought that Belluci would actually win that match.

[Soapsuds]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/news/serena-williams-ends-9-month-title-drought-italian-134339968--ten.html

 

Haven't watched either but Joker was complaining that the match should have been postponed and of fatigue….blah…glad he lost. The French Open on the men's side should be wide open.

 

BTW…Grigor Dimitrov has dropped to #36 in the rankings now…yikes….and will be unseeded at the French Open…a dangerous floater if you can call him that now after his dismal performances on the court this year. 

Edited May 15, 2016 by Soapsuds

[DramatistDreamer]

I saw almost all of the Serena vs. Madison match and most of the Andy vs. Novak match.  

 

Madison came out firing in the first set and Serena, perhaps stunned, started out lagging behind at first but by the 5th game, really raised her level.  I don't know the last time I've seen that many aces on clay.  Always in the back of my mind though, I wondered whether Madison could keep playing at that pace and high level (she couldn't) and if her level dropped, what she would do as a backup plan.  The first set was very competitive, high level of tennis and the tiebreak had a certain tension to it until mid-way through.  When Serena secured that minibreak close to the end of the set and then closed it out, I wondered whether she'd hit with a freer hand in the second and she did.  Madison didn't completely go away in the second set but Serena started to run away with it before Madison managed to get a foot into the 2nd set and you got a sense that there was slim chance for Madison to get the match away from Serena, although it was still entertaining to the end.

 

Andy vs. Novak, what can I say?  Many were speculating that Kei (who fought Novak all the way to the end of their SF) actually provided the assist to Murray by wearing Novak down- I tend to agree with this.  

Novak seemed frustrated in his SF against Kei as well.  I missed the moment he banged his racquet against his ankle but apparently he meant to bang it against the bottom of his shoe and in frustration he banged it hard, only he accidentally banged his ankle- hard.  I don't know what Novak's deal is but the other day, during a match he shoved the chair umpire's arm aside while the umpire was pointing out a mark (which is against the rules- unwelcome touching of an official, player or venturing to the opposite part of the court when you're not supposed to, are all grounds for penalty).  Novak could've, should've been fined (can you imagine what would've happened if Nick Kyrgios had pushed Carlos Bernardes' arm aside like that?  Today, Novak hurls expletives at a different chair umpire, saying that he doesn't want to play because the conditions are f*cking dangerous- Andy didn't seem to mind playing out there.  

People also speculated what the response might be had it been a woman carrying on like that- most said, some pundit probably would have made a remark about hormones and 'that time of the month' so some people started remarking on Nolé's hormones.  

I don't know what his problem is but I hope his circle and his fans stop demanding that Nolé be liked as much as Roger or Rafa or whoever because if it hasn't happened at this point, with his tantrums this week, trust me, it ain't gonna happen at this point.

 

@Soapsuds, I really hope the French is wide open this year, particularly on the Men's side.  I'd love for a first time winner to take it.  Even though I'm not too keen on the French crowd because of their past rude behavior, considering the horrific things they've endured over the past year, I'm hoping that a certain acrobatic Frenchman can make one helluva run this year.  Tennis has been so crazy this year, that actually makes perfect sense

 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2016 by DramatistDreamer

[DramatistDreamer]

Unsurprising news of the day:  Berdych parts ways with Vallverdu.

 

https://t.co/BBAkBEHlcF

 

Edited May 16, 2016 by DramatistDreamer

[Soapsuds]

This is surprising news to me. He was with Tomáš Krupa for 6 years. I kept waiting for him to dump him and he never did. Krupa had a great year with him the last year with Berdych. The following year Vallverdu came in and continued the success and got him even greater results and the same happened last year. But I noticed after the French Open Berdych seemed burned out the first two years with Vallverdu. I don't know why but his results after the French Open those two years were very poor. I don't know if Berdych ran out of gas or what. I will say Vallverdu seems like a great coach and also complimented Berdych on his hard work ethic. I have a feeling Berdych heard the news of Murray wanting to get back with Lendl and maybe just tanked that last match to have a reason to fire Vallverdu? Berdych has been knows to not show up for very important matches in his career. I think its Tomas thats the problem and not his coaches. He just doesn't have it mentally to win a major. 

Btw…if I were Grigor Dimitrov I'd give Vallverdu a call. I think he'd make a great coach for him.

[DramatistDreamer]

I do think Grigor should contact Vallverdu, it couldn't hurt right?

 

I listened to parts of a podcast by some British sports journalists and one proposed that he thinks Andy should reconnect with Lendl while the other was adamant that it wasn't going to happen.  I know names are being floated out there as potential coaches, including Martina Navratilova but this is all rumor as far as I'm concerned.

 

Did you hear about Shia LeBeouf playing John McEnroe in a future film about Borg and McEnroe?  

 

‘You cannot be serious': Shia LaBeouf to play John McEnroe in ‘Borg/McEnroe’