Tennis

[shoothoops]

Quest for 7 masks, seven matches, tonight's Naomi Osaka Quarterfinal mask against Shelby Rogers, is George Floyd.

[shoothoops]

In the Women's Doubles Semifinals, in one of the best matches of the tournament, heartbreak city for Americans Taylor Townsend and Asia Muhammad falling 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (7-9).

Serena Williams advances to her 14th United States Open Semifinal and 38th Grand Slam Semifinal. Serena's 20 aces today is the most she has had in 8 years. Her serve has often been her differentiator.

[Jockey]

In the Women's Doubles Semifinals, in one of the best matches of the tournament, heartbreak city for Americans Taylor Townsend and Asia Muhammad falling 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (7-9).

Serena Williams advances to her 14th United States Open Semifinal and 38th Grand Slam Semifinal. Serena's 20 aces today is the most she has had in 8 years. Her serve has often been her differentiator.

Hoops, sounds like you're a tennis fanatic. I watch all the Majors, but that's about it.

[JWags85]

Serena Williams advances to her 14th United States Open Semifinal and 38th Grand Slam Semifinal. Serena's 20 aces today is the most she has had in 8 years. Her serve has often been her differentiator.

Pironkova’s run was pretty amazing. Unlike Azarenka’s comeback when she was a former #1, she was never even a top 30 player before pregnancy.

On the men’s side, Thiem is fantastic but I don’t know who stops Medvedev with Novak out. He looks like the Terminator right now.  Rublev had been playing well.  He dismantled Berettini, smoked Caruso...and Medvedev just handled him with ease, more or less.

[shoothoops]

Hoops, sounds like you're a tennis fanatic. I watch all the Majors, but that's about it.

Casual fans, New fans, Slam only fans are all welcome. I enjoy it. I played travel soccer, basketball, baseball, and tennis growing up. Rec/fun level football and hockey even though I liked them as well. I was fortunate enough to get to go to see different sports in person, played them, and then follow them and keep up with some of them. I'm definitely not a one sport person. My interests flow with the sports seasons.

I enjoy all of the above sports as well as some Olympic Sports, especially summer, even though I didn't compete in many of those.

If you ever get the chance, it's certainly worth a bucket list day or weekend. In the U.S., the Open or Indian Wells/Palm Springs, Miami or Cincinnati would be the best choices. As with many other sports, seeing it up close at least once, gives a good perspective of the speed, pace, athleticism, skill, physicality, strategy, the stories etc..... Example: there was nothing like an Argentinian night match at the old grandstand court at the Open. The singing, the cheers, the flags, the ground shake, seeing the place overrun with Argentines wondering where you are for a minute. Good times. Let alone an American run. .....and each event and geography has its own scenery, and feel. The variety is good.

Unlike golf where 3 of 4 majors are in the U.S. and an entire tour...tennis has one U.S. major and less than a half a dozen elite events a year in the country. (smaller ones yes) It's very International.

With so many sports going at the same time right now, it's a bit challenging to keep up with. With some team sports, I can barely keep up with much more than the teams or individual players of my own rooting interest. A two week tennis Major, in the U.S. is a pretty big one right now. So that's more priority viewing for me at the moment. It's a good problem to have I suppose.

Women's semifinals in particular will be popcorn level:

Jen Brady v Naomi Osaka
Serena Williams v Vika Azarenka

Brady is the American Cindarella, Osaka the sport's next/current star, Serena is one Major title from tying the all time record, and Vika is making rhe comeback of comebacks aa if it were 8-10 years ago. Any of the four could win it and it would not surprise me. High level tennis.

[shoothoops]

Pironkova’s run was pretty amazing. Unlike Azarenka’s comeback when she was a former #1, she was never even a top 30 player before pregnancy.

On the men’s side, Thiem is fantastic but I don’t know who stops Medvedev with Novak out. He looks like the Terminator right now.  Rublev had been playing well.  He dismantled Berettini, smoked Caruso...and Medvedev just handled him with ease, more or less.

Pironkova was a big surprise, and it's always nice to see game variety. She brought that. Big time semifinals matchups. Any of the four women can win it.

 Zverev has the talent but Medvedev has the brick wall patience thay wears everyone down. And few discussing Carreno Busta but all he keeps doing is racking up win after win over high level players.

I was really bummed for Townsend/Muhammad in the dubs semis. Just a great match that slipped away. It's tough to win a slam.

[JWags85]

The Azarenka comeback tour storms onward. She’s been remarkable the past weeks. So resilient and unflappable. She shook off that horrid first set and then absolutely handled Serena the rest of the way. Crazy that she hasn’t made a Slam final in 7 years and she’s still relatively young at 31. She had so much success at a young age. Should be a fantastic matchup with Osaka.

Gotta think this may have been Serena’s last good shot at a major. Weakened field without Barty, Svitolina, Halep, Andreascu and others. The 5th seed in the field isn’t even a current top 10 player. Also a very favorable draw as Keys had to withdraw and Serena didn’t face a seed higher than 15 through the Semis. Stars had kind of aligned.

Honestly, ive not been a Serena fan for quite awhile. Unquestionably the best female player of all time, and arguably the best female individual athlete ever, but as electric and amazing as she was when she was younger, since reaching the consensus top of the mountain, she’s been a rather unlikable player IMO. Bombastic and overly demonstrative when playing well; however, incessantly petulant, whiny, and looking to place blame whenever she’s not flamethrowing an opponent. I thought she was a pretty clear poor sport even before the Osaka fiasco. I doubt any of it will even come close to placing any shadow on her legacy, but I’ve had numerous chats about it with my tennis playing friends (including a pair of former high level women’s players who feel largely the same).

[shoothoops]

The Azarenka comeback tour storms onward. She’s been remarkable the past weeks. So resilient and unflappable. She shook off that horrid first set and then absolutely handled Serena the rest of the way. Crazy that she hasn’t made a Slam final in 7 years and she’s still relatively young at 31. She had so much success at a young age. Should be a fantastic matchup with Osaka.

Gotta think this may have been Serena’s last good shot at a major. Weakened field without Barty, Svitolina, Halep, Andreascu and others. The 5th seed in the field isn’t even a current top 10 player. Also a very favorable draw as Keys had to withdraw and Serena didn’t face a seed higher than 15 through the Semis. Stars had kind of aligned.

Honestly, ive not been a Serena fan for quite awhile. Unquestionably the best female player of all time, and arguably the best female individual athlete ever, but as electric and amazing as she was when she was younger, since reaching the consensus top of the mountain, she’s been a rather unlikable player IMO. Bombastic and overly demonstrative when playing well; however, incessantly petulant, whiny, and looking to place blame whenever she’s not flamethrowing an opponent. I thought she was a pretty clear poor sport even before the Osaka fiasco. I doubt any of it will even come close to placing any shadow on her legacy, but I’ve had numerous chats about it with my tennis playing friends (including a pair of former high level women’s players who feel largely the same).

While I appreciate the tennis enthusiasm, I couldn't disagree more w/this post here.

First, your admitted bias against Serena affects your characterization of her play last night. I see zero credit given to her in your post for how she played. You chalk it up to Azarenka played poorly in the first set. Reality is that Serena was dominant in the first set winning 6-1 playing better than she has in many years. Vika, to her credit, and improved serve, got off of the matt and played great as well.

I also disagree that this was Serena's last chance to win a major. Serena has either made the semifinals, finals or won 15 out of the last 19 majors she has played. Even if you focused on more recent majors, that would still be 5 out of her last 9. Now go find me all of the other players that can say the same. The list is small. Also I don't see any mention in your post that Serena sat out several majors while being pregnant and after giving birth. In Serena's missed opportunities while whe was playing, there were a handful where she let a great opportunity get away against an inferior opponent. In many others, her opponent played great that day.

With regards to the field, 11 of the past 15 Women's slams have been won by different players. Last night had a good example where Jen Brady had one poor service game away from defeating Osaka and making the final. And Osaka's play last night was among the all time best in tennis. That good. Brady spent the past 3 years outside of the top 50 prior to her monster season this year.

Your comments are even more interesting considering her opponent last night, Vika Azarenka. Vika, like Serena, is popular on tour with many. But, Vika has spent her career, including last night playing with a manufactured high pitch squeal on every shot as a strategic tactic against her opponent. Ever watch Vika practice? Silence. Vika also admitted last night that her long break from top player, slam winner, had a lot to do with her attitude, which some well respected tennis people called prickly this week. She can be arrogant, cocky, brash, finger wagging, overconfident at times at her own admission. Do you see the double standard? However, Vika still has deserved popularity at other times based on her interactions with others. She is a great player that has won at the game's highest level and she has that level back right now. Good for her. It is the first time in 12 tries that she has defeated Serena at a slam.

Back to Serena, if anything since teaming up with Patrick Mouratoglou, her pressers, pr, etc...have been much more consistently professional and her attitude is very positive and much more congratulatory with other players. That's been many years.

Take the Djokovic example. Read the media headlines and compare it with those of Serena last year. There is clearly a double standard. In the incident that happened with Serena last year, a soft warning is very common and has been in this tournament for similar incidents. The amount of racism and mysogony that she and some others have experienced has been quite a bit over many years.

These were Serena’s gracious comments after losing a tough 3 set slam semifinal:

Serena on Azarenka:

“She's had a lot of, I would say, downs in her career. She started on a lot of highs. I don't know how she stayed positive, to be honest, so.. That's a good lesson for all of us. No matter what, you just got to keep going. Hopefully she keeps living her dream.“ "Vika is just the kind of person you root for, unless you are playing her obviously."

[JWags85]

While I appreciate the tennis enthusiasm, I couldn't disagree more w/this post here.

First, your admitted bias against Serena affects your characterization of her play last night. I see zero credit given to her in your post for how she played. You chalk it up to Azarenka played poorly in the first set. Reality is that Serena was dominant in the first set winning 6-1 playing better than she has in many years.

I also disagree that this was Serena's last chance to win a major. Serena has either made the semifinals, finals or won 15 out of the last 19 majors she has played. Even if you focused on more recent majors, that would still be 5 out of her last 9. Now go find me all of the other players that can say the same. The list is small. Also I don't see any mention in your post that Serena sat out several majors while being pregnant and after giving birth. In Serena's missed opportunities while whe was playing, there were a handful where she let a great opportunity get away against an inferior opponent. In many others, her opponent played great that day.

With regards to the field,11 of the past 15 Women's slams have been won by different players. Last night had a good example where Jen Brady had one poor service game away from defeating Osaka and making the final. And Osaka's play last night was among the all time best in tennis. That good. Brady spent the past 3 years outside of the top 50 prior to her monster season this year.

Your comments are even more interesting considering her opponent last night, Vika Azarenka. Vika, like Serena, is popular on tour with many. But, Vika has spent her career, including last night playing with a manufactured high pitch squeal on every shot as a strategic tactic against her opponent. Ever watch Vika practice? Silence. Vika also admitted last night that her long break from top player, slam winner, had a lot to do with her attitude, which some well respected tennis people called prickly this week. She can be arrogant, cocky, brash, finger wagging, overconfident at times at her own admission. Do you see the double standard? However, Vika still has deserved popularity at other times based on her interactions with others. She is a great player that has won at the game's highest level and she has that level back right now. Good for her. It is the first time in 12 tries that she has defeated Serena at a slam.

Back to Serena, if anything since teaming up with Patrick Mouratoglou, her pressers, pr, etc...have been much more consistently professional and her attitude is very positive and much more congratulatory with other players. That's been many years.

Take the Djokovic example. Read the media headlines and compare it with those of Serena last year. There is clearly a double standard. In the incident that happened with Serena last year, a soft warning is very common and has been in this tournament for similar incidents. The amount of racism and mysogony that she and some others have experienced has been quite a bit over many years.

These were Serena%u2019s gracious comments after losing a tough 3 set slam semifinal:

Serena on Azarenka:

%u201CShe's had a lot of, I would say, downs in her career. She started on a lot of highs. I don't know how she stayed positive, to be honest, so.. That's a good lesson for all of us. No matter what, you just got to keep going. Hopefully she keeps living her dream.%u201C "Vika is just the kind of person you root for, unless you are playing her obviously."

Where did I say Azarenka played poorly? I said she shook off a horrid first set. Whether you double faulted 10 times with a bunch of unforced errors or your opponent was just on fire hitting winner after winner, dropping a set  6-1 in which you were broken 3 times is a horrid start to a semi.  And I never even glowingly spoke of Azarenka, just pointed out the long lay off between Grand Slam finals for her. Why would I need to praise Serena for her lay-off?  She missed a year cycle and was back to top form shortly thereafter. Hardly comparable to the gap I was talking off.

I didn’t say it was her last chance, I said it was her last good chance. She still has the French this year, but clay has never been her forte though she’s obviously won there plenty. She’ll be closer to 40 than 39 by the 2021 cycle. It would be breaking her own oldest winner record by 4+ years. If anyone could do it, it’s her, but the odds get a lot longer, especially with the depth you yourself spoke of on the tour and plenty of players who can match her strength and pace and are 10-15 years younger.

Also, the Joker/Serena comparisons don’t work for me. This isn’t to downplay the racism or misogyny Serena has faced, as that’s undeniable. But Djokovic struck the line judge by accident. Hit it out of anger to be sure, but it was a fluke strike. Serena verbally lambasted an umpire repeatedly and personally. It’s the difference between a QB getting an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for throwing a ball out of bounds, after being frustrated by a delay of game penalty, and hitting a linesman versus a penalty being assessed for the QB chasing the ref down, screaming in their face with insults and obscenities. Both rightfully deserved penalties, but intent was markedly different.

We can agree to disagree. You’re certainly not alone in your defense of Serena. She’s just not for me anymore. And that’s coming from someone who specifically went to see her play in Cincy multiple times during college and jumped at the chance to meet her through a college friend at Indian Wells one year. Not like I’ve had some deep seated bias against her from the jump

[shoothoops]

While I appreciate the tennis enthusiasm, I couldn't disagree more w/this post here.

First, your admitted bias against Serena affects your characterization of her play last night. I see zero credit given to her in your post for how she played. You chalk it up to Azarenka played poorly in the first set. Reality is that Serena was dominant in the first set winning 6-1 playing better than she has in many years. Vika, to her credit, and improved serve, got off of the matt and played great as well.

I also disagree that this was Serena's last chance to win a major. Serena has either made the semifinals, finals or won 15 out of the last 19 majors she has played. Even if you focused on more recent majors, that would still be 5 out of her last 9. Now go find me all of the other players that can say the same. The list is small. Also I don't see any mention in your post that Serena sat out several majors while being pregnant and after giving birth. In Serena's missed opportunities while whe was playing, there were a handful where she let a great opportunity get away against an inferior opponent. In many others, her opponent played great that day.

With regards to the field, 11 of the past 15 Women's slams have been won by different players. Last night had a good example where Jen Brady had one poor service game away from defeating Osaka and making the final. And Osaka's play last night was among the all time best in tennis. That good. Brady spent the past 3 years outside of the top 50 prior to her monster season this year.

Your comments are even more interesting considering her opponent last night, Vika Azarenka. Vika, like Serena, is popular on tour with many. But, Vika has spent her career, including last night playing with a manufactured high pitch squeal on every shot as a strategic tactic against her opponent. Ever watch Vika practice? Silence. Vika also admitted last night that her long break from top player, slam winner, had a lot to do with her attitude, which some well respected tennis people called prickly this week. She can be arrogant, cocky, brash, finger wagging, overconfident at times at her own admission. Do you see the double standard? However, Vika still has deserved popularity at other times based on her interactions with others. She is a great player that has won at the game's highest level and she has that level back right now. Good for her. It is the first time in 12 tries that she has defeated Serena at a slam.

Back to Serena, if anything since teaming up with Patrick Mouratoglou, her pressers, pr, etc...have been much more consistently professional and her attitude is very positive and much more congratulatory with other players. That's been many years.

Take the Djokovic example. Read the media headlines and compare it with those of Serena last year. There is clearly a double standard. In the incident that happened with Serena last year, a soft warning is very common and has been in this tournament for similar incidents. The amount of racism and mysogony that she and some others have experienced has been quite a bit over many years.

These were Serena’s gracious comments after losing a tough 3 set slam semifinal:

Serena on Azarenka:

“She's had a lot of, I would say, downs in her career. She started on a lot of highs. I don't know how she stayed positive, to be honest, so.. That's a good lesson for all of us. No matter what, you just got to keep going. Hopefully she keeps living her dream.“ "Vika is just the kind of person you root for, unless you are playing her obviously."

I believe your admitted bias against Serena affected your description of the semifinal.

I try to take every individual situation individually and examine it as such, regardless of past and/or personal interest, and I try to do so positively, negatively, and indifferently based on what is applicable to me. And, thoughts, feelings, opinions can and do vary based on each individual situation.

[shoothoops]

The Open on 9-11 today:

[shoothoops]

in her quest for 7 masks 7 matches, mask number six for Naomi Osaka was Philando Castile.

Both semifinals were as advertised, elite level 3 set thrillers.

Naomi Osaka 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 over Jen Brady. .....both players with 35 winners, but just a few more unforced errors for Brady. Very close match.

Vika Azarenka 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 over Serena Williams.

Both Osaka and Azarenka are seeking their 3rd Grand Slam titles respectively.

[shoothoops]

36 year old mom, and former World Singles #2 player, Vera Zvonerava wins the U.S. Open Women's Doubles Championship with Laura Siegemund 6-4,6-4 over #3 seed Nicole Melichar and Xu Yifan. It's her 3 U.S. Open title and it happens 10 years after she reaches the U.S. Open Singles final.

[shoothoops]

In the quest for 7 masks, 7 matches, Naomi Osaka enters the Women's Singles Finals wearing a Tamir Rice mask.

The 7 masks:

Breonna Taylor
Elijah McClain
Ahmaud Arbery
Trayvon Martin
George Floyd
Philando Castile
Tamir Rice

She leaves the 2020 United States Open Women's Singles Champion, and, with it, $3 million. At age 22, it's her 3rd Major Title.

Osaka started slow, as Azarenka did hot. Lots of errors but she made the calm, confident adjustments after the first set.(Wim Fissette waa a nice add this year) Azarenka used her great service return re-directing shots, while standing inside the baseline. But anticipating the cross court and going more down line to neutralize was well done. And the serve, in tennis is always the great equalizer. And Osaka has one of the best. Easily the current best talent on super fast hard courts.

1-6, 6-3, 6-3

https://twitter.com/usopen/status/1304909347449757696?s=19

[shoothoops]

U.S. Open wraps up with two of the half a dozen to a dozen or so next generation elites going the distance in a 5 set thriller. While play level wasn’t as quality at times as they can produce, excitement level was a 10 out of 10 as Dominic Thiem wins his first Major/Grand Slam title over friend Sascha Zverev 2-6,4-6,6-4,6-3,7-6 (8-6) despite severe cramping late in the match. Thiem is the first player in the Open Era to win the title coming back from down 2 sets.

Thiem’s first win in four Slam final tries. He also happens to be the only player to ever have defeated Rafa Nadal four times on clay. It just so happens the tour now moves to the red clay of Europe and this week Rome, and the Cypress Trees, in one of the French Open Master 1000 tuneups.

[shoothoops]

As previously mentioned, Naomi Osaka, winner of this year's U.S. Open, and last year's World's highest paid professional Women's Athlete at almost $40 Million, wore 7 masks for 7 matches.

Here is a clip from Japanese television where her individual masks, are explained and discussed in Japan and Asia. Quite an impact.

https://twitter.com/rumireports/status/1304917652108767232?s=19

[shoothoops]

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced that Fed Cup, which is the Women’s version of Davis Cup, will be renamed Billie Jean King Cup to honor her.

Rafa Nadal makes his Pandemic debut in Rome.

Nice run in Rome for 16 year old American Coco Gauff falls short in Rome to 2 time Slam winner and former World Number 1 Gabby Muguruza, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6. She had a good win over Jabeur prior. She is still in the doubles with Christina McHale.

[JWags85]

The International Tennis Federation (ITF) announced that Fed Cup, which is the Women’s version of Davis Cup, will be renamed Billie Jean King Cup to honor her.

Rafa Nadal makes his Pandemic debut in Rome.

Nice run in Rome for 16 year old American Coco Gauff falls short in Rome to 2 time Slam winner and former World Number 1 Gabby Muguruza, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6. She had a good win over Jabeur prior. She is still in the doubles with Christina McHale.

Not sure what highly ranked player looked worse in Rome, Wawrinka or Kenin.  Wawrinka vultured the Challenger Tour for awhile then looks completely noncompetitive against the young Italian Musetti.  Loss looks a bit less brutal after he take down Nishikori in straight sets right after blitzing Stan.

Kenin gets double bageled by Azarenka.  Absolutely unreal.  Second terrible performance against a highly ranked opponent after Mertens handled her without much issue at the US Open.

[shoothoops]

Not sure what highly ranked player looked worse in Rome, Wawrinka or Kenin.  Wawrinka vultured the Challenger Tour for awhile then looks completely noncompetitive against the young Italian Musetti.  Loss looks a bit less brutal after he take down Nishikori in straight sets right after blitzing Stan.

Kenin gets double bageled by Azarenka.  Absolutely unreal.  Second terrible performance against a highly ranked opponent after Mertens handled her without much issue at the US Open.

Haven't watched the Kenin match yet but I will take a look, and I knew the result. Often times there is an injury or illness with that. It is surprisingly the 14th time a Slam Champ has been double bageled, 6-0,6-0. It has happened to some all time greats. I will grab that list when I get a chance. Interestingly enough, Azarenka and Kenin played doubles together for both Cincy and U.S. Open. .....Some players, especially old school ones will not default and they will finish the match even if not feeling well. Kenin has been slumping but she is very talented, and will turn it back around.

Stanley had some rust and walked into a hot young player. Gonna be a challenge for him with quick turn around for France.

Osaka is opting out of the French Open, hamstring and lack of prep time.

Found the list attached of the 14 Slam Champs that have been double bageled.

[shoothoops]

Roma.

Stop the presses. Rafa Nadal has lost a tennis match on clay.

Epic effort and performance from Diego Schwartzman 6-2,7-5 in the quarters. A crosscourt backhand clinic  It is his first win on clay over Nadal after losing 9 straight. Nadal had won 9 Italian Opens. His record now falls to 63-7 there all time. Nadal has won 12 French Opens but he enters for the first time not having one at least one clay court tuneup. Nadal's all time clay court record drops to a still staggering 438-40.

Schwartzman will face Denis Shapovalov in the semis. Shapo won his 100th career ATP Tour match, and he will enter the top 10 World Ranking for the first time.

Djokovic advances in 3 to face Ruud.

In the Women's, Match of the day, Garbiñe Muguruza high level 3 set win over Vika Azarenka. Very cakey, inconsistent surface made the level for both that much more impressive. Simona Halep looms on the horizon. All 3 of the above French favorites.

[GooooMarquette]

Five players out of French Open qualifying due to COVID-19

https://sports.yahoo.com/five-players-french-open-qualifying-032158790.html

Five players have been withdrawn from the French Open qualifying tournament after two players and a coach tested positive for COVID-19, organisers have said.

The qualifiers will begin later on Monday, with the main draw set to commence on Sept. 27.

"The Roland Garros tournament directors can confirm that two players competing in the qualifying tournament have tested positive for COVID-19 and three others have confirmed close contact with a coach who has tested positive for COVID-19," the French Tennis Federation (FFT) said in a statement.

[shoothoops]

Five players out of French Open qualifying due to COVID-19

https://sports.yahoo.com/five-players-french-open-qualifying-032158790.html

Five players have been withdrawn from the French Open qualifying tournament after two players and a coach tested positive for COVID-19, organisers have said.

The qualifiers will begin later on Monday, with the main draw set to commence on Sept. 27.

"The Roland Garros tournament directors can confirm that two players competing in the qualifying tournament have tested positive for COVID-19 and three others have confirmed close contact with a coach who has tested positive for COVID-19," the French Tennis Federation (FFT) said in a statement.

One player is 114th ranked Damir Dzumhur and his coach.

For those that don't follow tennis, a qualifier is a mini tournament held immediately before an event for players not already in the 128 player main singles draw.

128 additional players play the qualifying tournament each for Men and Women. 16 Men and 12 Women will make it to the main draw from the qualifying tournament for French Open 2020.

The U.S. Open had one positive test pre-tourney upon player bubble arrival. But otherwise the event went very well, zero positive tests, as did the Cincy tourney there. Some players did not travel to NYC over COVID-19 concerns. Rafa Nadal for example didn't but he is playing the French. Prague event went well as has Rome.

The French Open is a mix of players that played in New York, and others that stayed in Europe and elsewhere.

The French Open has wanted to have limited fans for the event. No other event has had fans.

Final smaller tuneup events this week for some players seeking extra clay court match play are in Hamburg, Germany for the Men, and Stasbourg, France for the Women.

[GooooMarquette]

The French Open has wanted to have limited fans for the event. No other event has had fans.

An update on this:

https://www.essentiallysports.com/is-french-open-2020-allowing-spectators-atp-wta-tennis-news/

Initially, the organizers had planned on allowing 20,000 spectators each day into the stadiums. But that number shrunk to 11,500 and then to 5000 due to the severe rise in COVID-19 cases. The event had 35,000 spectators on average, each day last year. The total over the 14 day period was 52,0000 which was a record for the tournament.


-----------

So the current plan is down to 5,000 per day from an initial proposal of 20,000. My suspicion is that could still go lower as COVID numbers continue to rise in France and across the EU.

For comparison, the Tour de France just finished yesterday, but organizers restricted fan access more and more as the event proceeded. There were a few late stages where there were virtually no fans at the finish.

[shoothoops]

The French continues to do its own thing. When the Pandemic began, it announced it waa moving its late May event to Sept/Oct without really chatting with anyone else in tennis.

The French Open is near completion of a big long term renovation project. Going from 850 Acres to 1250 acres,(U.S. Open has 1900 acres by comparison) rebuilt main stadium after 90 years, new smaller stadium builds, retractable roof, lights for the first time this year. It is located in the hustle bustle of Paris. Recent higher end brand sponsors, partnerships with China etc....after being outdated for a very long time and least popular w/some players.

Wimbledon canceled its 2020 event. It had 17 year Pandemic Insurance that paid out $141 million.

[GooooMarquette]

The French continues to do its own thing. When the Pandemic began, it announced it waa moving its late May event to Sept/Oct without really chatting with anyone else in tennis.

The French Open is near completion of a big long term renovation project. Going from 850 Acres to 1250 acres,(U.S. Open has 1900 acres by comparison) rebuilt main stadium after 90 years, new smaller stadium builds, retractable roof, lights for the first time this year. It is located in the hustle bustle of Paris. Recent higher end brand sponsors, partnerships with China etc....after being outdated for a very long time and least popular w/some players.

Wimbledon canceled its 2020 event. It had 17 year Pandemic Insurance that paid out $141 million.

Yeah, doing their own thing is kind of a French thing to do.

However, I'm not sure what your point is regarding the location of Roland Garros...while it is in Paris city limits, it's no more in the 'hustle and bustle' than Wimbledon or the National Tennis Center. Heck, you can walk from a match at Billie Jean King stadium to a Mets game at Citi Field in about 5 minutes, all while getting a close up view of planes taking off and landing at Laguardia.