Please see Styx thread on the Registered Shipmates consultation for the main discussion forums - your views are important, continues until April 4th.

New Balls Please - the tennis thread

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.
«134

Comments

  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Jolly good.

    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?
  • Latest news is that Andy Murray is hoping to return to competitive tennis, maybe Wimbledon in the doubles, very doubtful for the singles. But he's choosing a slower return as he seems to be recovering better.
  • ChoristerChorister Shipmate
    A shame he felt pressurised into coming back too quickly last time. But then, I expect he pressurised himself.
  • Well, Jamie Murray and his partner went out in the first round in Paris. JM is changing partner (not sure why, no the new partner isn't going to be his brother) so whether or not he gets to keep his world doubles ranking is anyone's guess. Mind you, the Bryan twins also went out very early so things are not as predictable as once they were.

    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!
  • Yesterday Konta demolished Stephens. Not just my opinion: Chris Evert said she was unbeatable yesterday. Took the match 6-1 6-4, with a winning run of 7 games on the trot in the first to go up a break of serve in the second set, in which she lost only 1 service point - a double fault before she served out for the match.

    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.
  • ChoristerChorister Shipmate
    I'm normally a Wimbledon only fan, but Konta's performance so far makes her very worth watching on Friday.
  • Now of course the whole thing is up in the air because there was no play at Roland Garros today. Still, if Konta does make it past Vondrousova into the final she'll have an opponent who will have had to play three days on the trot.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Chorister wrote: »
    I'm normally a Wimbledon only fan ...
    That makes me feel better - so am I. I never think any of the other tournaments look as nice as Wimbledon, with the courts and the players' clothes being the wrong colour.
  • Defending champion Simon Halep is out, beaten by a teenager.
  • ChoristerChorister Shipmate
    As Piglet said, those black zig zags are so wrong! And the clay court colour hurts my eyes. But it is Konta, and it is the semi final, so I've got ITV4 on and am watching Konta make a good start. Surprised there aren't more spectators there though.
  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    Vondrousova outlasted Konta 7-5, 7-6.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Yet in both sets, she had a strong position - multiple set points even - but couldn’t finalise.

    And the still lovely, but ageing alas, Federer is out.
  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    Nadal has Federer's number on clay.
  • Nadal is allowed to get away with murder.

    Not only is his pre-match routine annoying (and tasteless, picking at his shorts :grimace: ) but he takes way over the time allowed, which is 20 seconds. The other day it was a full 39 seconds from him getting the balls to serve and actually throwing up the ball to hit it; and then when that hit the net, another 24 seconds to go through the whole process again. When will an umpire be brave enough to penalise this? Yes, I know some of it is his "routine" but I'm sure that in a sticky situation his being able to take all that extra time gives him an unfair advantage.

    Konta bottled it: got over eager, over hit, and poor shot selection.
  • FirenzeFirenze Shipmate, Host Emeritus
    Humdinger between Thiem and Djoko.

    Think play is just about to resume.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    edited June 2019
    Nadal is allowed to get away with murder ... The other day it was a full 39 seconds from him getting the balls to serve and actually throwing up the ball to hit it ...
    I've seen better men than Nadal being pulled up for that (not often, and a long time ago, I admit), but there's really no excuse - at that level the players ought to know the rules, and the umpires shouldn't think twice about applying them.

    eta: he's 33 - isn't it time he retired?
  • TukaiTukai Shipmate
    Why retire when you are still winning tennis majors? (A question Nadal might think briefly about.)

    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.
  • Good for Ashleigh Barty - not only did she win the women's singles but was so excited by it that she actually bothered to read the list of previous winners. Now the French have got to make some amendments, starting with Sue Barker (won 1976) who is listed as Australian, Mima Jausovec (name spelled wrong) and the ladies' doubles cup also has a typo.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    How dare they list Sue Barker as Australian - don't they realise we need all the champions we can get?
  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    I could Wade into this conversation.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Don't get me wrong - I hadn't forgotten about her!
  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    I was just going for a cheap pun.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    :mrgreen:
  • The UK press and TV has been awash with the return of Andy Murray to competitive tennir. To be fair, it seems to be going well (he's into the Doubles final at Queen's) but, as usual, you'd think he'd done it all on his own and that all he has to do is show up.

    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.
  • ChoristerChorister Shipmate
    First set by the skin of their teeth!!
  • ChoristerChorister Shipmate
    Amazing play by Lopez in the final tie break - great match!
  • And Feliciano Lopez, who has featured in the last 5 matches on the main court at Queen's, wins singles and doubles. A very popular win, he is admired by the crowd at Queen's for his skill on the grass.
  • rhubarbrhubarb Shipmate
    Wow! Ash Barty is now number 1 in the tennis world. What a worthy winner!
  • ChoristerChorister Shipmate
    So, mixed success for the British players so far. Just seen an exhausted Ward knocked out. And, in other news, how wonderful for Gauff to knock out Venus so early on!
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Indeed - but consider that Venus is pushing 40, which at one time would have been Really Old for a tennis player.
  • ChoristerChorister Shipmate
    At the other end of the spectrum, I was surprised to see a 15 year old playing. There was much discussion a few years back about setting an age limit, to avoid the Tracy Austin crash-and-burn scenario being repeated. Although she is doing rather well for herself as a commentator now.
  • Chorister wrote: »
    At the other end of the spectrum, I was surprised to see a 15 year old playing. There was much discussion a few years back about setting an age limit, to avoid the Tracy Austin crash-and-burn scenario being repeated. Although she is doing rather well for herself as a commentator now.
    Actually it wasn't Tracy Austin who prompted the age and number of tournament restrictions, it was Andrea Jaeger* (remember her) and Jennifer Capriati.

    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!
  • TheOrganistTheOrganist Shipmate
    edited July 2019
    ***STOP PRESS ***

    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.
  • ChoristerChorister Shipmate
    ***STOP PRESS ***

    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!
  • If Edmund employed better shot selection he could have closed-out that third set.

    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.
  • The 15 year old qualifier Coco Gauff has reached the 4th round!
  • ChoristerChorister Shipmate
    The 15 year old qualifier Coco Gauff has reached the 4th round!

    Amazing! Saw some of the play and couldn't quite believe what I was seeing. What a talent. And she always looks so surprised!
  • ChoristerChorister Shipmate
    If Edmund employed better shot selection he could have closed-out that third set.

    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.

    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.

  • ChoristerChorister Shipmate
    Great play from Konta! And also a wonderful surprise from Pella. Sorry to see Gauff go though. I think we will be seeing a lot more of her in future years...
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    I observe that as of yesterday, Sir Andy is Scottish again. :cry:
  • ChoristerChorister Shipmate
    Halep winning, and then the excitement of today's marathon match between Djokovich and Federer - is it possible for tennis to get more exciting than this? Just as well the 12 game all tie break was introduced, or we'd still be there....
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    edited July 2019
    I missed it - had to be out of town for a choral thing, but I'm sort of pleased Djokovic won - he always comes over as a decent sort of bloke, and can play some pretty exciting tennis into the bargain.

    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?).
  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    I had to leave the house for the Choral Evensong that Piglet and my son were singing in when the score was 10-11. My son told me the final score as I was walking into the sanctuary. I let out n automatic "shit". My 17 year old Counsellor in Training's immediate response was " Don't swear in front of the kids."
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
  • Any interest in discussing the US Open? Anyone?
  • CaissaCaissa Shipmate
    Sure. Loved the fact that Andreescu, Pospisil and Shapovalov all won yesterday. Go Canada!!!
  • Our girl Barty had a tough first match, but seems to have had very little strife in the second round.
    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.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    Hasn't Mr. Kyrgios been prone to controversial outbursts before?
  • He has. Now he is backtracking, saying he never meant to claim the ATP was "corrupt."

    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.
  • PigletPiglet All Saints Host, Circus Host
    I may be being a bit harsh, but reading the article in your link, it seems to me that maybe not letting him compete in the Aussie Open would give him pause for thought. Though as you say, it wouldn't go down too well with the punters.
Sign In or Register to comment.