25 minutes ago, Faulkner said:

I get why they do it. There’s probably not a lot of infrastructure or money to be made outside of Asia or Europe/North America/Australia. But it would nice to have investment somewhere outside of the usual. 

 

Honestly, I think it's a matter of priorities.  The ATP invested heavily in China, even though the number of Chinese ATP players in the Top 100 was and continues to be negligible.  It's pretty obvious why.

 

As for ROI in Latin America and Africa, remember that the ATP has a whole entire Latin/South American swing during the spring and it's usually very well attended, I'd say attendance is consistently better than the tournaments in China (with the possible exception of the later rounds in the Shanghai Masters).

 

I'm not sure why the lone ATP tournament in South Africa was disposed of but when the Williams Sisters did their mini-tour in South Africa, they were wildly successful, but then again, both Williams Sisters have pretty much been beyond tennis for a few years now.  Seeing clips floating all over SM of Venus co-hosting the 3rd hour of the Today Show pretty much tells me so.

 

The ATP/WTA are not so much about "growing the game" anymore as they are about the cash grab. China/Europe, (China especially) and parts of the Middle East --those places provide the quick cash.  If KSA weren't so tainted right now, I'm sure they'd want to have a tournament there too.

Seriously, Alycia and her dad should be out of tennis for a few years if not forever...

 

 

Pliskova dumped Conchita as her coach!  

Well, I hear Muguruza is coachless these days so...

 

@ChitHappens Have you seen this thread? It's still going on, lol. 

 

On top of that if you won the match why are you squeezing my hand in aggression looked at me with anger and pushed my arm back after the handshake instead of letting go lightly🤔

— Alycia.parks (@alycia91838799) November 8, 2019

!!!

 

 

I don’t have a subscription to the Daily Telegraph, and this person (notably a Nole fan) clipped some bits from Simon Briggs’ article on Federer’s money moves in preparation for retirement in the next few years.

 

 

10 hours ago, Faulkner said:

!!!

 

 

 

This is why I love watching them play! 

 

Sinner just obliterated De Minaur. A star is born?

2 hours ago, Faulkner said:

Sinner just obliterated De Minaur. A star is born?

Sinner is a better version of Andy Murray. He's got game. Not surprised he won. 

He also beat Monfils a few weeks ago.

11 hours ago, Soapsuds said:

Sinner is a better version of Andy Murray. He's got game. Not surprised he won. 

He also beat Monfils a few weeks ago.

 

I remember that match.  Fortunately for Monfils, that seemed to motivate him to return the favor the next time they played.

Edited November 10, 20196 yr by DramatistDreamer

Watching this Djokovic/Berrettini match and has Matteo's return always been this bad?  Novak curled in a meatball second serve and Matteo swatted at it and dumped the return in the bottom of the net. Even Novak was like "welp", lol.

1 hour ago, DramatistDreamer said:

Watching this Djokovic/Berrettini match and has Matteo's return always been this bad?  Novak curled in a meatball second serve and Matteo swatted at it and dumped the return in the bottom of the net. Even Novak was like "welp", lol.

Matteo has an awful backhand. I really never paid attention to his return. He can't beat the top 3 at all. He competes fiercely against players ranked in the top 10 minus the top 3. He can play rather average against players ranked lower than him. He can have bad loses to unknown players. He is very hit and miss. That's why I am not a fan of his yet. The US Open is what got him to the final 8. I personally didn't see it coming. He has a good forehand and first serve but can double fault a lot. His backhand and volleys are his weakness.

And Monfils should've beat him in NY. That was ridiculous. Had he it would've been Monfils playing this week and not Matteo.

1 hour ago, DramatistDreamer said:

Watching this Djokovic/Berrettini match and has Matteo's return always been this bad?  Novak curled in a meatball second serve and Matteo swatted at it and dumped the return in the bottom of the net. Even Novak was like "welp", lol.

 

Matteo did a lot of talking before the finals began.  Hope he's super embarrassed after that shellacking! 

1 hour ago, Soapsuds said:

Matteo has an awful backhand. I really never paid attention to his return. He can't beat the top 3 at all. He competes fiercely against players ranked in the top 10 minus the top 3. He can play rather average against players ranked lower than him. He can have bad loses to unknown players. He is very hit and miss. That's why I am not a fan of his yet. The US Open is what got him to the final 8. I personally didn't see it coming. He has a good forehand and first serve but can double fault a lot. His backhand and volleys are his weakness.

And Monfils should've beat him in NY. That was ridiculous. Had he it would've been Monfils playing this week and not Matteo.

 

I agree with this. 

I'm not trying to be dismissive of Berrettini but Novak demonstrated how many holes there are in his game just by switching up the pace of his shots and refusing to trade FH strokes from the baseline. 

I agree about Monfils, who, despite his posturing, let nervousness and an unfamiliar opponent get the better of him in NYC.  Today, I did hear some tennis fans on twitter request Monfils to be subbed in, in place of Berrettini, LOL.  No such luck because if anyone withdraws, we're going to get Bautista-Agut.  No thanks, lol.

 

1 hour ago, ChitHappens said:

 

Matteo did a lot of talking before the finals began.  Hope he's super embarrassed after that shellacking! 

 

Novak's team prepared him well to play Berrettini, who was a bit nervous and uncomfortable and never got a foothold in the match, mainly because Djokovic wouldn't let him. Anyone who wants to beat Berrettini going forward needs to watch that match, Novak provided a very clear primer on how to beat Berrettini.  Don't give Matteo a clean, flat, hard-hit ball because he feasts off it.  Add variety to the choice of shots and mix up the pace. Don't allow Matteo to camp on the baseline and trade forehand shots. Also, exploit his dodgy volleys.