New Balls Please - the tennis thread
TheOrganist
Shipmate
in The Circus
While the British men, in the absence of A Murray, have been disappointing at Roland Garros, Johanna Konta not only managed to win for the first time in Paris but has got through the first three rounds, becoming the first British woman into the round of 16 since Ann Hobbs and Jo Durie in 1983.
She's due to play her fourth round match tomorrow, Sunday.
She's due to play her fourth round match tomorrow, Sunday.
Comments
I've been a bit out of the loop regarding tennis - has Andy Murray officially retired, or is he still broken and hoping to be mended in time for another stab at Wimbledon?
Johanna Konta won again today in two easy sets against Vekic: next up in Sloane Stephens, who put our Garbine Muguruza. Konta has played Stephens twice this year and won both times, most recently on the clay in Rome; she should win this one but consistency has been her weakness.
Meanwhile the men's draw is far more predictable, with Nadal and Federer even recording identical scores on their way into the Quarter Finals - both coming out 6-2 6-3 6-3 winners today, slightly freaky!
In the second QF played yesterday a non-seed took out Martic, the only player in the drawer with a better record on clay than Konta this year. Things are looking promising.
And the still lovely, but ageing alas, Federer is out.
Not only is his pre-match routine annoying (and tasteless, picking at his shorts
Konta bottled it: got over eager, over hit, and poor shot selection.
Think play is just about to resume.
eta: he's 33 - isn't it time he retired?
In contrast rising women's star Ash Barty had her first major win, against even her own family's expectations. They had travelled to England to watch her there, but couldn't adjust their travel (and jet-lag) in time to make her final. Barty seems a really nice person as well, which is refreshing.
All completely ignoring that his partner, Feliciano Lopez, is one of the world's great doubles players: no slouch at singles either, since he features in the finals of both singles and doubles later today.
Gauff is restricted in the number of tournaments she is allowed to play and it is also set that players of this age cannot be given a wild card into a main tournament draw, hence her having to play in the qualifying tournament.
Jaeger is now a member of the Anglican Order of Preachers!
It is going to happen: Andy Murray and Serena Williams are going to be playing in the Mixed Doubles at Wimbledon - read about it here.
just seen the line up for tomorrow, that should be worth watching!
Today's amazing match was Edmund's - after his very badly timed slip, at a point where he would surely have won, he bravely continued through the next set and a half, and then played a wonderful final set, not winning, but giving the fight of his life. Bravo!
Looking forward to watching all the British players tomorrow morning and early afternoon, I don't fancy Clarke's chances against Federer much!
He needs to get his head around playing on with a niggle and closing out a match - not just my thoughts, but those of Boris Becker who by the time he was Edmund's age had won 4 Grand Slam titles and reached 2 more GS finals.
Amazing! Saw some of the play and couldn't quite believe what I was seeing. What a talent. And she always looks so surprised!
I remember the year when Becker had to retire through injury. The following year it looked like he was going to have to again, but he battled through to win after being 2 sets down. I couldn't help but draw a comparison between that and the Edmund match, although from many years later the exact details have faded into oblivion.
When's Federer going to retire? When I first started watching Wimbledon back in the early 80s, anything over 35 would have put you into the "oldies" category (and great fun it was too, when they weren't taking it too seriously and just enjoying themselves - remember Nastase in the over-35 gents' doubles hitting the ball from a prone position and jumping over the net?).
Our lad Kyrgios is really ... something. Anyway, I guess we will see how he goes going forward. It would be one thing if he behaved like a prick a la John McEnroe and regularly won grand slams. He has the talent. But this sideshow is not helping him, and it certainly isn't helping anyone else.
He will be suspended, I reckon, but probably not till after the Oz Open. He is a massive draw card. If he starts winning, all will be forgiven. Australian sports fans are very forgiving of shitty behaviour when the athlete is a star. Just ask Steve Smith.