Tennis 2017

[selectivememory]

Zverev into his first Masters final, aged 20. Very impressive, even if the draw was favourable for him, considering that Thiem at 23 made his first final last week, and the likes of Kyrgios (22) and Dimitrov (26!) have yet to make one. Now hopefully Thiem can batter Djokovic and we can have a new champion.

Meanwhile, looks like this week Muguruza has found some form, and at just the right time with her RG defence around the corner. Unless she really shows up in Paris, I'd probably see Halep as favourite now for the title.

[selectivememory]

looks like this week Muguruza has found some form

He says minutes before she retires from her match with injury.

[Deanjam]

[selectivememory]

hopefully Thiem can batter Djokovic

Yeesh... 6-1 Djokovic first set. Novak apparently coming into some serious form ahead of the French, although we've been here several times in the last year only for him to wilt in a later match.

[selectivememory]

6-1 6-0. Fuck me, was not expecting it to be so one-sided. You never know with Novak at the moment, but I'd be surprised if Zverev can beat him in this kind of form.

[selectivememory]

Zverev a set and a break up in the final. God, I hope he can close this out. Would be the youngest winner of a Masters since Nadal in 2006 or Djokovic in 2007 even.

[selectivememory]

Gets it!

The first Masters winner born in the 90s (and he was born in 1997). I think he's in the top 10 as well now.

Only caught the end of it, but Djokovic was pretty rubbish, especially compared to his incredible performance last night. Still something amiss with him, even though he's still clearly capable of playing his best.

[Deanjam]

Yay! Let the hype begin.

[Deanjam]

Djokovic to work with Agassi in Paris. Doubt it will help.

[selectivememory]

Top three favourites (IMO) for the French all in the same half: Nadal, Djokovic and Thiem. Unfortunate for Thiem that he's in Novak's quarter, because that seems like the only match-up in which he's pretty much nailed-on to lose, although I don't think he could take down Nadal over five sets.

Meanwhile, if Murray can play himself into some form, it wouldn't be a bad second week for him in terms of who he could play, but he's got a projected third round match with Delpo, and on current form, I'd back Delpo for that one. On the other hand, if Murray comes through that one it could fire him up a bit for the second week. We're probably looking at a finalist on that side out of Murray, Delpo, Wawrinka, Nishikori or Zverev (who even though he hasn't done much in the slams yet, has to be taken into consideration considering his great win in Rome - and he's in the right half of the draw for potentially going deep). I don't really see anyone stopping Rafa to be honest, although if Stan makes the final I wouldn't be confident in making a prediction.

The women's tournament is as open as it's ever been regardless of how the draw went. Wonderful to see Kvitova back, although I doubt she's going to be doing much in tournaments for the next few months. It's a real shame Halep might have injured herself, as this was looking like her best shot yet at winning a major. Still, at least Maria can't win it.

[Deanjam]

French Open begins today. Here's the draw:

Men's singles:

Section 1

A Murray v A Kuznetsov                                                
L Lokoli v M Kližan                                                   
M Baghdatis v N Almagro                                                   
G Pella v JM del Potro                                                   
J Isner v J Thompson                                                   
P Lorenzi v R Berankis                                                   
K Khachanov v N Jarry                                                   
J-L Struff v T Berdych

Section 2

A Zverev v F Verdasco                                                
P-H Herbert v J Donaldson                                                   
D Džumhur v N Kicker                                                   
M Hamou v P Cuevas                                                   
S Querrey v H Chung                                                   
E Escobedo v D Istomin                                                   
R Albot v J Chardy                                                   
T Kokkinakis v K Nishikori

Section 3

S Wawrinka v J Kovalík                                                
A Dolgopolov v C Berlocq                                                   
S Giraldo v A Seppi                                                   
F Tiafoe v F Fognini                                                   
R Gasquet v A De Greef                                                   
T Gabashvili v V Estrella Burgos                                                   
T Monteiro v A Müller                                                   
D Brown v G Monfils

Section 4

J-W Tsonga v R Olivo                                                
K Edmund v G Elias                                                   
K Anderson v M Jaziri                                                   
P Kohlschreiber v N Kyrgios                                                   
D Ferrer v D Young                                                   
F López v B Fratangelo                                                   
K Kravchuk v F Delbonis                                                   
E Gulbis v M Čilić

Section 5

M Raonic v S Darcis                                                
R Dutra Silva v M Youzhny                                                   
M Trungelliti v Q Halys                                                   
G García López v G Müller                                                   
P Carreño Busta v F Mayer                                                   
T Daniel v J Janowicz                                                   
T Robredo v D Evans                                                   
S Robert v G Dimitrov

Section 6

J Sock v J Veselý                                                
A Bedene v R Harrison                                                   
M Kukushkin v T Sandgren                                                   
J Millman v R Bautista Agut                                                   
G Simon v N Basilashvili                                                   
V Troicki v E Donskoy                                                   
R Haase v A De Minaur                                                   
B Paire v R Nadal

Section 7

D Thiem v B Tomic                                                
S Bolelli v N Mahut                                                   
M Bourgue v B Ćorić                                                   
Y Sugita v S Johnson                                                   
I Karlović v S Tsitsipas                                                   
H Zeballos v A Mannarino                                                   
Y-h Lu v S Stakhovsky                                                   
P-H Mathieu v D Goffin

Section 8

L Pouille v J Benneteau
T Bellucci v D Lajović                                                   
B Bonzi v D Medvedev                                                   
M Copil v A Ramos Viñolas                                                   
M Zverev v S Napolitano                                                   
A Rublev v D Schwartzman                                                   
J Sousa v J Tipsarević                                                   
M Granollers v N Djokovic

[Deanjam]

Women's singles:

Section 1

A Kerber v E Makarova                                    
L Tsurenko v K Kozlova                                       
L Chirico v J Ostapenko                                       
M Puig v R Vinci                                       
S Stosur v K Kučová                                       
K Flipkens v M Minella                                       
B Mattek-Sands v E Rodina                                       
J Boserup v P Kvitová

Section 2

C Wozniacki v J Fourlis                                    
F Abanda v T Andrianjafitrimo                                       
C Bellis v Q Lemoine                                       
A Tomljanović v K Bertens                                       
S Zhang v D Vekić                                       
V Golubic v A Sasnovich                                       
C Giorgi v O Dodin                                       
C McHale v S Kuznetsova

Section 3

G Muguruza v F Schiavone                                    
A Kontaveit v M Niculescu                                       
J Larsson v N Vikhlyantseva                                       
M Georges v Y Putintseva                                       
M Lučić-Baroni v Ç Büyükakçay                                       
M Erakovic v S Rogers                                       
S Errani v M Doi                                       
J Brady v K Mladenovic

Section 4

V Williams v Q Wang                                    
A Anisimova v K Nara                                       
J Janković v R Hogenkamp                                       
E Mertens v D Gavrilova                                       
T Bacsinszky v S Sorribes Tormo                                       
M Brengle v J Görges                                       
O Jabeur v A Bogdan                                       
L Arruabarrena v D Cibulková

Section 5

E Svitolina v Y Shvedova                                    
M Barthel v T Pironkova                                       
A Lim v M Linette                                       
D Kovinić v A Konjuh                                       
A Sevastova v A Beck                                       
R Ozaki v E Bouchard                                       
K Bondarenko v P Martić                                       
A Barty v M Keys

Section 6

E Vesnina v B Haddad Maia                                    
V Lepchenko v A Petkovic                                       
S Cîrstea v S Peng                                       
M Sakkari v C Suárez Navarro                                       
D Kasatkina v Y Wickmayer                                       
M Vondroušová v A Hesse                                       
Y Duan v T Maria                                       
J Čepelová v S Halep

Section 7

J Konta v S-w Hsieh                                    
M Kato v T Townsend                                       
C Paquet v Kr Plíšková                                       
N Hibino v C Garcia                                       
B Strýcová v A Riske                                       
A Cornet v T Babos                                       
N Osaka v A Van Uytvanck                                       
F Ferro v A Radwańska


Section 8

A Pavlyuchenkova v PM Țig                                    
V Cepede Royg v L Šafářová                                       
M Duque Mariño v I-C Begu                                       
M Rybáriková v C Vandeweghe                                       
L Davis v C Witthöft                                       
I Khromacheva v P Parmentier                                       
E Alexandrova v K Siniaková                                       
S Zheng v Ka Plíšková

[Deanjam]

Kerber out, thrashed by Makarova.

[selectivememory]

And Kvitova wins her first match back after getting stabbed. So happy for her. She must be feeling pretty good if she's already competing six months after it happened.

[selectivememory]

Zverev and Konta both out. Konta doesn't seem to be much of a clay court player, and Verdasco was a very rough draw for Zverev, so not too surprised about either. Would expect better of both at Wimbledon.

[Mr Brightside]

'Britain's' Aljaz Bedene considering switching nationalities again. What a wanker. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/40083299

[selectivememory]

I hope he stays British just to wind Dan Evans up.

But seriously, he was probably expecting to be able to compete for Britain in the Davis Cup when he switched initially, and he needs to play some Davis Cup to be eligible to play the Olympics, so it might be smart for him to switch back. It might upset the LTA, as they've funded him in recent years, but he's going to be 30 by the time of the next Olympics, so maybe he has to be ruthless. Also, the idea of competing for a nation outside of Davis Cup and the Olympics makes no sense to me - in an individual sport they're playing for themselves - so if he's been prohibited from actually competing for Britain, and through no fault of his own, why not switch back?

[Mr Brightside]

Dan Evans does have a point, though. Bedene is not and never was British. The LTA are paying for him to be British, so they get what they deserve if he switches back. They even tried to get Djokovic to represent Britain back in 2006 or whatever. It's embarrassing.

[selectivememory]

Dan Evans is just bitter that he isn't the British number 3 any more. Otherwise it makes no difference to him, given that Bedene can't take his Davis Cup squad place.

But anyway, he is British, in that he is a legal citizen and he lives here.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

If Bedene wants to represent GB and is eligible to play Davis Cup he should have been allowed to represent us.

Frankly, Evans until recently was a waster and a no-mark with an appalling Davis Cup record. He gets to run the rule over Davis Cup selection and make disrespectful comments like a parochial lout, which is bad enough alone in my opinion but he's scarcely earnt the latitude. If he's not careful he'll end up this decade's Buster Mottram.

[Mr Brightside]

If Bedene wants to represent GB and is eligible to play Davis Cup he should have been allowed to represent us.

Frankly, Evans until recently was a waster and a no-mark with an appalling Davis Cup record. He gets to run the rule over Davis Cup selection and make disrespectful comments like a parochial lout, which is bad enough alone in my opinion but he's scarcely earnt the latitude. If he's not careful he'll end up this decade's Buster Mottram.

But Bedene had already represented Slovenia three times in Davis Cup, which was why he was stopped from representing Britain. You think he should then be allowed to decide he wants to be British?

[BlodwynPig]

I fancy having a go with Tonga next year (he'll be knocked out tomorrow it seems) and then I'll try my luck with Mongolia (second round looks tricky for her)

All this nation switching is laughable

[rjd2]

Nice win for Kvitova, pleased to see her back. Ladies side seems really open, plenty of girls to keep an eye on. I was on the Mlad bandwagon but her comments on Garcia were absolutely horrible. I dunno maybe it was a bad day for her. I'l cheer on Svitolina until I decide whether Mlad is a cunt or not.

Keeping an eye on Markéta Vondroušová also, 17 year old, but hyped to the hills and looks an immense talent.

Men side?When was the last time a world number one had less of a chance than Murray here? Nice win today, but don't see him going far.

[Mr Brightside]

Men side?When was the last time a world number one had less of a chance than Murray here? Nice win today, but don't see him going far.

Pete Sampras had a poor French Open record.

I don't know why other majors don't adopt Wimbledon's seeding method of giving added weight to your recent performances on the particular surface the event is being played on. Seems strange that Murray is top seed for this and that Sampras was top seed at the French for years despite never getting past the last eight.

[Deanjam]

But Bedene had already represented Slovenia three times in Davis Cup, which was why he was stopped from representing Britain. You think he should then be allowed to decide he wants to be British?

To be fair, the rule was only recently changed to stop this. There's been an entire history of people switching nationalities in tennis. Personally I agree with the new rule, once you've represented one country then that's it. I do feel bad for Bedene though, he's gone through the five years residency to get UK nationality and was clearly keen to represent GB at Davis Cup and Olympics, I do believe he made the switch with the best intentions. Dan Evans' insistance that he's not really British cmes across as more than a bit dodgy.

I don't know why other majors don't adopt Wimbledon's seeding method of giving added weight to your recent performances on the particular surface the event is being played on. Seems strange that Murray is top seed for this and that Sampras was top seed at the French for years despite never getting past the last eight.

The feeling is that clay & hard courts are so well represented in the mandatory tournaments that the rankings represent a fair representation of people's form on them. Grass needs the weighted seeding. Murray has been just as bad on hard as clay this year.

Nice win for Kvitova, pleased to see her back.

The feel good story of the tournament. With Serena out, if she can get a bit of form together, she could have a good crack at Wimbledon.

[Mr Brightside]

Dan Evans' insistance that he's not really British comes across as more than a bit dodgy.

If you're suggesting Evans is some kind of xenophobe, I think that's unfair. I think his comments about Bedene come from his frustration that after making genuine efforts to improve this year, the British press waste no time in telling him he's been replaced as British no 3 by a guy that only decided to represent Britain after playing three times for Slovenia in the Davis Cup and who seems eager to now to switch back again because the switch hasn't worked out for him.

The feeling is that clay & hard courts are so well represented in the mandatory tournaments that the rankings represent a fair representation of people's form on them. Grass needs the weighted seeding. Murray has been just as bad on hard as clay this year.

Yeah, Wimbledon obviously needs the weighted seeding the most because of how little grass court tennis is played in the year, but I still think other slams should use it. To use a player I mentioned in my last post, Pete Sampras, he was a guy everyone knew would be lucky to get into the second week every year he played at Roland-Garros, and yet for many years he was the top seed. It's not a huge issue that keeps me up at night and it doesn't make that much difference, it's just a slight change I'd like to see.

[Cuellar]

cracking arse on that line judge (male) in the Muguruza/Kontaveit match - got a right good shot of it on the Kontaveit serve.

[Deanjam]

If you're suggesting Evans is some kind of xenophobe, I think that's unfair. I think his comments about Bedene come from his frustration

I'm sure they do, but suggesting that an immigrant who has earned a British passport isn't really British is dodgy. Whatever his reasons it feeds into a wider issue and as a public figure he needs to choose his words better.

It's doubly gauling considering he pissed away years of LTA funding and has only taken his career seriously in the last couple of years.

[Bazooka]

How is Tiger 'The Tim' Henman doing? Has he said his catchphrase " I can not be serious" yet?

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

But Bedene had already represented Slovenia three times in Davis Cup, which was why he was stopped from representing Britain. You think he should then be allowed to decide he wants to be British?

Yeah I think if someone wants to be a certain nationality they ought to be given the chance. What else is the naturalisation process?

In sporting terms all that matters re: representing a country is the effort and the commitment shown. Rusedski and Konta may have had stronger ties to GB but that isn't why we support them, we do that because they're wearing our colours and trying hard. Simple as that.