Tennis

[WarriorFan]

Early in the 4th on a ball that was close to the line and called out, as the umpire was coming over to check the mark, Sinner indicated that it was in before the umpire even got there.  Great sportmanship. 

Alcarez - what a fight.  I'm not sure he's the better tennis player but he decided to not give up and never gave up on himself.

With these two, mens tennis is in pretty good hands for the future.

[Shaka Shart]

Which one looks the most American?  That's who I'd cheer for but really, I wouldn't watch

Alcaraz is from southern Spain which is close to Northern Africa which means close to Muslims. I imagine you want no part of that.

[wadesworld]

One is a sinner if that changes how an evangelical like yourself views it.

He met the Pope so he's probably washed of his sins.

[MU82]

Statistically, neither served very well.

Blown calls happen in every sport. Humans make mistakes. In this match, one human even made the mistake of blowing 3 straight match points and getting clobbered in the final tiebreaker.

[MuggsyB]

Statistically, neither served very well.

Blown calls happen in every sport. Humans make mistakes. In this match, one human even made the mistake of blowing 3 straight match points and getting clobbered in the final tiebreaker.

He did have two good opportunities on match points.  As far as the tiebreaker there was literally nothing he could do on the first 5 points. The 8 point stretch when Carlos served at 5-6, and 15-30, plus the 5 in the breaker, can be categorized as going full medieval.

[MU82]

"I think it's just putting my life into perspective. I realize in a way it's pressure, but it's not. There are people struggling to feed their families. There are people who don't know where their next meal is gonna come from, people who have to pay their bills. That's real pressure, that's real hardship, that's real life." - Coco Gauff

[Uncle Rico]

"I think it's just putting my life into perspective. I realize in a way it's pressure, but it's not. There are people struggling to feed their families. There are people who don't know where their next meal is gonna come from, people who have to pay their bills. That's real pressure, that's real hardship, that's real life." - Coco Gauff

I can't stand her

[Shaka Shart]

"I think it's just putting my life into perspective. I realize in a way it's pressure, but it's not. There are people struggling to feed their families. There are people who don't know where their next meal is gonna come from, people who have to pay their bills. That's real pressure, that's real hardship, that's real life." - Coco Gauff

She should renounce her citizenship if she hates the US so much

[MU82]

Sabalenka apologizes to Gauff for post-match comments after French Open

BERLIN (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka says she has written to Coco Gauff to apologize for the "unprofessional" comments she made following her loss to her American rival in the final of the French Open.

Speaking to Eurosport Germany, the top-ranked Sabalenka said her remarks after her 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 loss to Gauff at Roland-Garros this month were a mistake. In her post-match press conference in Paris, Sabalenka had suggested that the result was more due to her own errors than to Gauff's performance.

"That was just completely unprofessional of me," Sabalenka said. "I let my emotions get the better of me. I absolutely regret what I said back then. You know, we all make mistakes. I'm just a human being who's still learning in life. I think we all have those days when we lose control. But what I also want to say is that I wrote to Coco afterward — not immediately, but recently."

Sabalenka hit 37 winners but finished the final with 70 unforced errors — compared to Gauff's 30.

She said she wrote to Gauff to apologize and "make sure she knew she absolutely deserved to win the tournament and that I respect her."

"I never intended to attack her," Sabalanka added. "I was super emotional and not very smart at that press conference. I'm not necessarily grateful for what I did. It took me a while to go back and think about it, to approach it with open eyes, and to understand. I realized a lot about myself. Why did I lose so many finals?"

[Shaka Shart]

Sabalenka apologizes to Gauff for post-match comments after French Open

BERLIN (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka says she has written to Coco Gauff to apologize for the "unprofessional" comments she made following her loss to her American rival in the final of the French Open.

Speaking to Eurosport Germany, the top-ranked Sabalenka said her remarks after her 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4 loss to Gauff at Roland-Garros this month were a mistake. In her post-match press conference in Paris, Sabalenka had suggested that the result was more due to her own errors than to Gauff's performance.

"That was just completely unprofessional of me," Sabalenka said. "I let my emotions get the better of me. I absolutely regret what I said back then. You know, we all make mistakes. I'm just a human being who's still learning in life. I think we all have those days when we lose control. But what I also want to say is that I wrote to Coco afterward — not immediately, but recently."

Sabalenka hit 37 winners but finished the final with 70 unforced errors — compared to Gauff's 30.

She said she wrote to Gauff to apologize and "make sure she knew she absolutely deserved to win the tournament and that I respect her."

"I never intended to attack her," Sabalanka added. "I was super emotional and not very smart at that press conference. I'm not necessarily grateful for what I did. It took me a while to go back and think about it, to approach it with open eyes, and to understand. I realized a lot about myself. Why did I lose so many finals?"

Not a true competitor I guess. Sad

[BM1090]

Been real cool to get into the ATP tour this year. One thing I'm still struggling with is figuring out much certain players care about the 250 and 500 events.

[JWags85]

Been real cool to get into the ATP tour this year. One thing I'm still struggling with is figuring out much certain players care about the 250 and 500 events.

I remember having a conversation with a former colleague who played tennis at U of I.  Program that obviously had quite a few ATP/WTA talents go through.  He said the schedule can be so grueling that players punt tournaments fairly regularly.  You obviously can't straight up skip tournaments once you get to a certain level, cause it looks bad and your sponsors won't like it.  But you see plenty of otherwise surprising upsets.  Guys you see fighting back from 2 sets down at the majors suddenly seemingly mail it in once they get down a set and a break.  People need a break, both mentally and physically, and might as well do it in a "lesser" tournament.

[BM1090]

I remember having a conversation with a former colleague who played tennis at U of I.  Program that obviously had quite a few ATP/WTA talents go through.  He said the schedule can be so grueling that players punt tournaments fairly regularly.  You obviously can't straight up skip tournaments once you get to a certain level, cause it looks bad and your sponsors won't like it.  But you see plenty of otherwise surprising upsets.  Guys you see fighting back from 2 sets down at the majors suddenly seemingly mail it in once they get down a set and a break.  People need a break, both mentally and physically, and might as well do it in a "lesser" tournament.

Checks out from what I've watched so far. And obviously some guys just really need get in the win column so they prioritize some of the smaller events.

Fritz winning last week then losing in round 1 this week, for example.

[JWags85]

Checks out from what I've watched so far. And obviously some guys just really need get in the win column so they prioritize some of the smaller events.

Fritz winning last week then losing in round 1 this week, for example.

Absolutely.  Its the reason that I remember always telling friends to never bet on a tennis casually outside of the majors.  The number of chalk favorite parlays that get blown up because of situations just like that Fritz match is a prime example.

Back in my embarrassing degenerate gambling days, I remember thinking I knew what I was doing.  Won a couple of bets following Dominic Thiem to a decent size tourney title.  Was an absolute animal breaking serve.  Forget the opponent, but he 6-0, 6-2'd a top 25 player in the semis.  Went big the next tournament, he couldn't break a 300s ranked player and lost in back to back tie breaks.  Man just wanted to rest and focus on the next week 

[MuggsyB]

Wimbledon has begun.  Alcaraz is spraying balls and serves all over the place.  Very upsetting.  He needs to wake up. 

One thing that has been noticeable at Wimbledon (and I suppose tennis is general), is that you see way fewer free points on bomb serves.  I always thought this was the speed of the faster courts being slower over the years, but the bigger reason may be that the tennis balls get heavier with the fluff.   The powers that be want longer rallies.  It's an interesting discussion whether this is good or bad for the game. 

[Uncle Rico]

Wimbledon has begun.  Alcaraz is spraying balls and serves all over the place.  Very upsetting.  He needs to wake up. 

One thing that has been noticeable at Wimbledon (and I suppose tennis is general), is that you see way fewer free points on bomb serves.  I always thought this was the speed of the faster courts being slower over the years, but the bigger reason may be that the tennis balls get heavier with the fluff.   The powers that be want longer rallies.  It's an interesting discussion whether this is good or bad for the game. 

If an American doesn't win the men's portion, we must revamp youth sports in America until we produce champions

[MuggsyB]

If an American doesn't win the men's portion, we must revamp youth sports in America until we produce champions

It's pretty embarrassing we haven't won a gs since Roddick 20+ years ago. 

[Uncle Rico]

It's pretty embarrassing we haven't won a gs since Roddick 20+ years ago. 

The woke mob tried making all the kids play soccer and eat orange slices

[Shaka Shart]

Mental midget Rune at it again

[Shaka Shart]

Wimbledon has begun.  Alcaraz is spraying balls and serves all over the place.  Very upsetting.  He needs to wake up. 

One thing that has been noticeable at Wimbledon (and I suppose tennis is general), is that you see way fewer free points on bomb serves.  I always thought this was the speed of the faster courts being slower over the years, but the bigger reason may be that the tennis balls get heavier with the fluff.   The powers that be want longer rallies.  It's an interesting discussion whether this is good or bad for the game. 

As a competitive player, they absolutely have fluffed up the balls to slow them down and extend points.

It's infuriating when shots that are usually winners just stick on the court and pop up into the strike zone for your opponent. Not to mention everyone getting elbow problems because they're having to work harder to generate adequate top spin.

On a lightning fast and low bounce surface like grass it creates some real weirdness

[JWags85]

It's pretty embarrassing we haven't won a gs since Roddick 20+ years ago. 

I mean, if you want an absurd stat...there have only been 10 grand slam winners since Roddick won the US Open in 2003.  Novak, Fed, and Rafa won the majority.  Alcaraz and Sinner grabbed some recently.  Wawrinka grabbed a couple, so did Andy Murray.  Then a US Open each for Medvedev, Thiem, and random ol Cilic.

So looking at it that way, not really that embarrassing, considering it also coincided with one of the worst periods for top level American mens tennis. 

But you got 3 Americans in the top 10, another in the top 20, and 4-5 more in the top 50.  And they are all not in the Isner, Opelka, Cressy "I'm a giant with a monster service but nothing else" mold that won't ever win a major.

So focus on that instead of the past few decades which also coincided with 3 of the top 5 players ever all at their peaks.

[MuggsyB]

It sounds like Fritz got completely hosed today.