The Tennis Thread

[DramatistDreamer]

I always reject the idea of a player leaving if he/she is not ready to go, especially in today's game where so many players peak in their late 20s.  Stan Wawrinka won his first Major at what, 30 years of age?  Although I don't see Young having that type of major success in singles (he's pretty nifty in doubles) but I think he could, not consistently but sometimes,  have a good showing at tournaments (didn't he get to the Quarters last year at the USO?).  

 

It was an interesting match.  The crowd seemed neutral at first but seemed to be pulling for Tiafoe, especially after Young won the 1st set.  Young seemed very agitated with the crowd and his tweets kind of explain why:

 

 

I do think he felt the pressure of being supplanted by the YOUNGer player out there, while Frances seemed undaunted and unfazed by the dynamics on court.  At first, Tiafoe did seem nervous, but deep into the 1st set, he started to play the game he's capable of playing- it was too late to salvage the 1st set, Donald had built a sizeable lead but early in the 2nd set, I had a sense that it would be a different story.  Tiafoe, playing with no pressure, just played his game for the rest of the match, while Young, at times, was focused point by point, and then completely bothered both by the crowd and what Tiafoe was doing to his shots.

 

What I cannot understand is why is Young playing on a green clay court in Tallahassee?  I can understand why Tiafoe would (he wants those points, trying to get into the Top 100) but Young, at #81 is already in the Top 100 and should be playing on red clay in Estoril or Munich.  With Donald's ability to create different spins on the ball, I can't figure out why he won't try to make a go on clay.  He doesn't know how to slide but quite a lot of players have had decent results on red clay without sliding particularly well.  None of the U.S. men in the Top 100 seem to even be making an effort on clay so far this year.  I don't understand, because if a player is healthy, the more the player makes an effort, the better their chances are of improving and having a measure of success.

 

 

[DramatistDreamer]

Frances Tiafoe just beat Ryan Harrison 7-6, 6-4.  Of course, Ryan smashed his racket on the verge of losing his serve and the match.  Until he changes his temperament and attitude, I don't see Harrison going very far.

[Soapsuds]

Harrison is all hype. Ryan just hits the ball hard with no game plan on the court. 

[DramatistDreamer]

Dominic Thiem beat Alexander Zverev (I was tempted to say Sascha) to advance to the BMW Open in Munich, where he'll face Phillip Kohlschreiber.

 

@Soapsuds, you should also be glad that Grigor Dimitrov beat Ivo Karlovic (in 2 tie-break sets, of course!) to advance to the finals in Istanbul.

 

Lucie Safarova won the Prague Open (on home soil) over Sam Stosur and both had to hustle by plane to the Mutua Madrid Open as the tournament has already started there.

[Soapsuds]

@DramatistDreamer I saw that Alexander had lost and I was like to WHO….LOL…then I saw it was Thiem and I was ok with it….LOL

I watched Grigor's match against Ivo on the Tennis Channel. If Grigor can win tomorrow he will be back in the top 25…..

I find it ridiculous for a tournament to start on a Sunday when the previous week tourney is still going on. Although the Mutua Madrid Open is one of my favorite clay court tournaments.

Edited May 1, 2016 by Soapsuds

[DramatistDreamer]

The Madrid tournament has already started, Sloane Stephens had a match today where she beat Teliana Pereira of Brazil in three sets.  Definitely not a qualifying match.

 

At least ESPN3 is finally covering a clay court tournament on red clay.  It's my only recourse besides those bootleg streams, some of which are blocked by my antivirus software.  Last year, ESPN3 livestreamed Monte Carlo, the Family Circle Cup, Barcelona, Madrid and Rome.  This year, the only clay court tournament they've streamed prior to Madrid was the Family Circle Cup.  And streaming begins tomorrow, not today.

Edited May 1, 2016 by DramatistDreamer

[Soapsuds]

Tennis Channel begins coverage on Monday morning at 5 am. I might catch it tomorrow on ESPN3 even though I loath ESPN3….LOL

[DramatistDreamer]

I can't blame you but at least with ESPN3, you don't have to listen to the regular ESPN commentary, it's from the world feed, so generally the same commentators as TennisTV.  And no Justin Gimelstob either.

[Soapsuds]

Yeah Mr. Bozo…..LOL…..I wonder if John Isner made the trip to Spain?

[DramatistDreamer]

Isner and Gimelstob parted ways, I imagine it may be interesting the next time Gimelstob provides commentary on one of Isner's matches.  The only U.S. man that I've seen in Madrid (in pictures) is Jack Sock.  Before Madrid, none of the U.S. men were in Europe on clay.

[DramatistDreamer]

@Soapsuds Did you hear about what happened to Dimitrov?  I didn't see much of the match but heard about the end result.

[Soapsuds]

Wow really? John got rid of the Bozo Gimelstob…LMAO…..LOLOLOLOL….I can't believe it…in shock…..I know that Steve Johnson was there but he lost in the first round…not surprised…his score was just shown during a woman's match…which btw started today and not tomorrow like I thought…the tournament that is…..

I actually was watching the match when Dimitrov had his meltdown….It was awful. He had the match in hand up a set and a break and his game just went south. He was complaining about cramping which is ridiculous considering 2 sets hadn't been completed. Gimelstob kept saying it was nerves and thus his cramping….then he kept just spinning in his first serve and Gimelstob kept saying why is he not hitting his first serve hard…he has a powerful first serve…..Dimitrov did that with Monfils during the Miami tourney and no one who commented on the match mentioned it….I don't get why he was doing it either. Gimelstob was wondering if it was his coach telling him to do that because he hadn't before. Well anyways he lost the 2nd set which he should have won and in the third set he completed lost it…going down 5 love in minutes…..his first tantrum was after going down 3 love…he pounded his racquet on the court so hard that the court got full of small tiny particles of the racquet….LOL …after he went down 5 love his string broke…it kept breaking his strings…he went to change racquets and he lost it again….pounding the racquet on the ground and again he demolished it….LOL…..he got a point penalty…and Gimelstob said he did it again he is having a meltdown….he sat on the changeover since it was game since he lost the last point and was down love 40……the next game he was up and had a point to get one of the breaks back but lost the point and it went back to deuce…his racquet strings broke again…as he went to change racquets he told the umpire something and then picked up his racquet and started pounding it again to the ground….Gimelstob started yelling NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO….as Dimitrov continued pounding the racquet to the ground…LOLOL…it was something….and then Gimelstob said thats it that is the match……fans started booing…..it was a mess….LOL

[Soapsuds]

Gimelstob's wife is divorcing him….I am surprised she lasted 4 years with him….I am sure he would be difficult to live with…LOL  …So he said he wanted to spend more time with his son…which means if he probably continued to coach John he would have no time with his son since the wife will mostly likely get custody.

[DramatistDreamer]

I might expect that behavior from a play transitioning from juniors to the ATP but not someone like Dimitrov, who has had some years of experience behind him. Time for the sports psychologist (lol)!  Seems like it was not poor officiating but self inflicted.  Other than taking the grievance to whoever strung his racquets, it seems like he may have something going on with him personally.  Is he carrying a pre-existing injury?  Or is there emotional strain?  Very odd for him, who is not known for tantrums.

 

Thiem lost to Kohlschreiber, surprising even Kohl's fans (lol).  Phillip has won this tournament at least twice before, it's kind of his thing (lol).

 

Yes, I remember reading a NYT article about Gimelstob where he mentioned going through a divorce.  I guess he read it and saw in the article that he was doing ten things at once (while defending his ability to do so to the reporter) and thought it probably wouldn't look good for his prospects of even dual custody unless he cut down on some of his activities.

 

Taylor Townsend won an ITF tournament today and she does look to be a bit trimmer than when I last saw her.

[Soapsuds]

Figures that Kohleschreiber won….I thought for sure Thiem would beat him even though it did go to 3 sets…last in the tie breaker. Phillip hasn't done squat this year and then he wins this tournament….blah…LOL….I like Phillip but wanted Thiem to win.

 

Townsend should be in the big leagues not playing ITF tourneys….