Tennis

[BM1090]

He’s truly incredible to watch. Him and Sinner are going to be entertaining for years if injuries don’t get in the way.

[MU82]

Nadal and Alcaraz will form a doubles team for Spain at the Olympics.

[Uncle Rico]

Defending women’s champ, Marketa Vondrousova ousted in the opening round at Wimbledon

[JWags85]

Defending women’s champ, Marketa Vondrousova ousted in the opening round at Wimbledon

Pretty wild variance for her since Wimbledon last year.  Makes the quarters at the US Open.  Then gets blasted in straight sets in the first round at the Aussie as the 7 seed.  Then makes the quarters at Roland Garros.  Then another straight set loss today in the first round.

[MuggsyB]

Pretty wild variance for her since Wimbledon last year.  Makes the quarters at the US Open.  Then gets blasted in straight sets in the first round at the Aussie as the 7 seed.  Then makes the quarters at Roland Garros.  Then another straight set loss today in the first round.

I'm not sure if she has injuries, but this is why I reiterate focus and tenacity JWags.

[Plaque Lives Matter!]

Night and day for Tiafoe in the second round. Quick work

[MuggsyB]

Tiafoe with a great opportunity to take out Alcaraz. 

[MU82]

Tiafoe with a great opportunity to take out Alcaraz.

I didn't see the match, only the result.

And I'm happy about the result, as I enjoy Alcaraz's brand of tennis and look forward to watching him in the tournament's second week.

Tiafoe is a fine player. Alcaraz is a champion. It's hard to take out a champion.

[Plaque Lives Matter!]

Tiafoe ran into Alcarez god mode in the fourth set tiebreaker and also tweaked his knee again. Was quick work from there

[MuggsyB]

I couldn't watch the last 2 sets but Alcaraz does seem to have that switch.  His record in 5 set matches is more than impressive. I think everyone wants to see a Alcaraz/Sinner SF. 

[MuggsyB]

Nice win for Shelton! 

But now he has to play Sinner in the S16. 

[BM1090]

Tiafoe has given Alvarez some real battles. Hope he gets over the hump soon.

Zverev is tough but Fritz has a shot at a SF. Outside shot at 2 Americans in the QF

[MuggsyB]

Swiatek's struggles on grass continue.  She had an insane amount of unforced errors. I get It's a much different surface but there seems to be a mental issue as well. 

[MuggsyB]

Keys is playing injured after being in control of the 3rd set.  Very tough to watch.  She can't move. 

[MuggsyB]

Alcaraz doesn't have his best stuff today.  He's gonna have to dig deep if this goes 5. 

[MU82]

Rafa is my all-time fave but Alcaraz actually has a chance to be better. He has every shot on every surface, and he has the charisma and guts, too.

I was pretty impressed with how well Humbert played him today.

[MuggsyB]

Rafa is my all-time fave but Alcaraz actually has a chance to be better. He has every shot on every surface, and he has the charisma and guts, too.

I was pretty impressed with how well Humbert played him today.

He's really special.  And a heck of a lot of fun to watch.  I don't think he's nearly as consistent as Rafa or Novak but you're right, he has more shots in his arsenal.  His serve is also sneaky good with tons of pop.  The scary thing is I think he can get significantly better.  All that said to surpass any of the Big 3 he has a ways to go.  He certainly has the talent and mental strength but I do think he'll have to become more consistent.  Alcaraz and Sinner are two tremendous young players to carry on the sport.  And extremely likeable.  Meanwhile it's incredible that Djokovic is right there and could win this tournament. 

[MU82]

Evert just asked the same question I did about Emma Navarro: “Where did she come from?”

EDIT: Wow, that was impressive. Coco was bad today, but Navarro had a lot to do with that.

[MuggsyB]

Evert just asked the same question I did about Emma Navarro: “Where did she come from?”

EDIT: Wow, that was impressive. Coco was bad today, but Navarro had a lot to do with that.

I'm stunned Gauff was taken out.  But it's great to see two women in the quarters who played college tennis. 

[Jockey]

He's really special.  And a heck of a lot of fun to watch.  I don't think he's nearly as consistent as Rafa or Novak but you're right, he has more shots in his arsenal.  His serve is also sneaky good with tons of pop.  The scary thing is I think he can get significantly better.  All that said to surpass any of the Big 3 he has a ways to go.  He certainly has the talent and mental strength but I do think he'll have to become more consistent.  Alcaraz and Sinner are two tremendous young players to carry on the sport.  And extremely likeable.  Meanwhile it's incredible that Djokovic is right there and could win this tournament.

Novak wasn't consistent at Alcarez' age. By age 22, Novak had one Major.
Carlos could have 6 by then.

Nadal's record, while obviously great, is skewed by winning over 60% of his Majors on clay. Greatest ever on that surface.

[MuggsyB]

Novak wasn't consistent at Alcarez' age. By age 22, Novak had one Major.
Carlos could have 6 by then.

Nadal's record, while obviously great, is skewed by winning over 60% of his Majors on clay. Greatest ever on that surface.

Ya....this is an utterly ludicrous take.  Rafa has won 22 grand slams and all of them twice.  He's 29-30 vs the Djoker and 24-16 vs Fed.  Federer won one French Open btw.

The most prestigious tournament in tennis is Wimbledon but the truth is grass is the least played on surface by a wide, wide, margin.  In fact very few kids growing up outside of Great Britain, Ireland, and Australia play on it at all.  There are very few public grass courts in the USA for example.

After that you can argue whether the French or US Open is more prestigious but a lot of it is based on where one grew up.  If you're European it's the French for sure.  I am biased but because clay is the slowest surface, and you can't win many free points off of the serve or thundering power, it makes it the most difficult to win in a best of 5 sets over two weeks.   Rafa's complete dominance on clay is as remarkable of an achievement as we have seen in the history of sports.  Now, you do have to slot the Djoker #1, but do not give me this complete nonsense that Rafa isn't right there and #2. 

I will add one thought:   What Borg did on clay and then grass,, 2 weeks apart, can't be glossed over.  He's before my time, and quit at 26, but no one has really done that except him in the modern age. 

[BM1090]

I think the point was about the consistency. Rafa is one of the best but consistency wasn't his strong suit since he only won 10 majors that weren't on Clay in 20 years. It's all relative of course, and Rafa is incredibly consistent. But Alcaraz is 21 and has gone win, semi, win, semi, quarter, win in his last six majors. That run started at age 19.

He's been probably the most consistent player at his age in tennis history. Hope Tommy Paul beats him Tuesday though.

[MuggsyB]

I think the point was about the consistency. Rafa is one of the best but consistency wasn't his strong suit since he only won 10 majors that weren't on Clay in 20 years. It's all relative of course, and Rafa is incredibly consistent. But Alcaraz is 21 and has gone win, semi, win, semi, quarter, win in his last six majors. That run started at age 19.

He's been probably the most consistent player at his age in tennis history. Hope Tommy Paul beats him Tuesday though.

I mean it's probably a nuanced discussion.  We would  have to go back and look at some of the matches when Rafa and Djoker were that age.  You may very well be right, and it's also worth noting that Alcaraz plays a higher risk game.  If you want to get technical we could probably research the unforced errors and compare them. 

[MuggsyB]

I will admit that Alcaraz has a better drop shot than I do. 

[BM1090]

I mean it's probably a nuanced discussion.  We would  have to go back and look at some of the matches when Rafa and Djoker were that age.  You may very well be right, and it's also worth noting that Alcaraz plays a higher risk game.  If you want to get technical we could probably research the unforced errors and compare them.

I meant consistency in match results, not point to point. I’m interested in that discussion too but not nearly knowledgeable enough to have it.