Tennis 2020

[selectivememory]

Good to see Ostapenko back playing some good stuff. ... Could be cool to see a rematch of the 2017 final.

Spoke too soon. She gone.

It'll be typical of 2020 if Nadal doesn't win the tourney.

I reckon this is the best chance in about four or five years for someone else to win the thing. Nadal definitely prefers the early summer conditions when this tournament is usually held and also he's complained about the new balls they're using. And then he's got the rough side of the draw compared to Djokovic, and will probably have to go through Thiem to get to the final. Still probably favourite, but I think a massive opportunity is there for Thiem or Djokovic.

[BlodwynPig]

Ferro through, Allez!

Busta Busted Bautista

[BlodwynPig]

Hoping that it's not just the BBC ladder of favourites, i.e. those players the BBC deem worthy of more than a passing comment, i.e. Serena -> Halep -> Kvitova -> Ostapenko -> Kenin (that sort of thing). Ferro barely got a mention - I know its all about the punters, but when you are stuck in this horrible loop, it becomes a Ponzi scheme of expectation versus imagination and surprise.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/54289415

He was raised in Wimbledon close to the All England Club, but has spent considerable time in France because of his family heritage.

His mother, Olivia, is a French former Fed Cup player, who used to work for the LTA as a business development manager, while father Loic is an asset manager who owns Ligue 1 football club Lorient.

Just an ordinary guy then. The LTA is a fucking joke.

[selectivememory]

Bloody hell. That young Polish player just destroyed Halep. Didn't see that coming, I'll be honest, although she'd already had some impressive results this week.

Good chance of yet another new women's major champion, as Kenin and Kvitova are the only remaining ones left in the draw, and I don't particularly fancy either of them to win it.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Bloody hell. That young Polish player just destroyed Halep. Didn't see that coming, I'll be honest, although she'd already had some impressive results this week.

Good chance of yet another new women's major champion, as Kenin and Kvitova are the only remaining ones left in the draw, and I don't particularly fancy either of them to win it.

This year's is going to be another pub quiz question isn't it...

[selectivememory]

Gaston (ranked 239) playing some great stuff here against Thiem. Might well take him to a fifth set. Can see why he gave Stan so much trouble.

[selectivememory]

Thiem survives, but that Gaston is a talented little player. Some inspired shot choices at times.

[BlodwynPig]

Thiem survives, but that Gaston is a talented little player. Some inspired shot choices at times.

gah! was hoping by not following he would pull off a shock.

Just Ferro left.

[selectivememory]

Svitolina dumped out by a qualifier in the quarters. So one out of Podoroska, Swiatek and Trevisan will make the final (and Swiatek's the only one I'd heard of before this week). Kvitova and Kenin the only seeds (and indeed the only top 50 players) left in the draw. Would be nice to see Kvitova get another major, but honestly I have no idea at this point who's going to win it.

Reckon Schwartzman's got a good chance against Thiem today. Playing well, beat Nadal in Rome the other week, and Thiem beginning to look a bit tired coming off the back of his US Open run.

[buttgammon]

Svitolina dumped out by a qualifier in the quarters. So one out of Podoroska, Swiatek and Trevisan will make the final (and Swiatek's the only one I'd heard of before this week). Kvitova and Kenin the only seeds (and indeed the only top 50 players) left in the draw. Would be nice to see Kvitova get another major, but honestly I have no idea at this point who's going to win it.

Reckon Schwartzman's got a good chance against Thiem today. Playing well, beat Nadal in Rome the other week, and Thiem beginning to look a bit tired coming off the back of his US Open run.

Although Thiem won that set, this looks like a good shout! It's a good match anyway.

[selectivememory]

Yeah, it's a fun match. I feel like Diego could have had this in straight sets, but he's been getting very tight when he's had chances to close out both the second and third sets.

[selectivememory]

Ah, that's nice. Happy for Schwartzman. First ever major semifinal for him. Brutal match though, hope he recovers well for Nadal (probably) on Friday.

[rjd2]

agreed on the above.

Ladies side this year is utterly mental, Svitolina, Halep, Mugu, Bertens, Aza all gone so we are left with a really open draw.

Swiatek who was fav to win this event after beating Halep in serious bother against Trevisan who beat Kiki, Coco and Sakkari.

[selectivememory]

Swiatek who was fav to win this event after beating Halep in serious bother against Trevisan

Was a pretty convincing victory in the end. Even if she doesn't go all the way in this tournament, it does seem like she's going to be a serious player in the next few years.

[selectivememory]

It's getting away from him a bit now, but I've been pretty impressed with what I've seen of Sinner in this match and the rest of the tournament. Definitely one to watch in the next year or two. If he had been a bit more clinical he could have won either of those first two sets.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Cmon Petra

[selectivememory]

Wow, what a comeback by Stefanos. I really hope he can win it from here. Did so well under so much pressure in the fourth set. Very clutch on the big points.

Edit: Damn. Fallen apart in this final set.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Always going to struggle to win 3 sets in a row against Djokovic after having already played 2 sets before that. Made him sweat a bit at least.

[Poobum]

Congrats to Swiatek, though real shame Kenin disappeared that last set.

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

The teenager is the ninth woman to win her maiden Grand Slam in the past 14 major tournaments.

Pretty weird. I grew up with the end of Navratilova, then Graf, then a short period, then Williams sisters.

[selectivememory]

Glad that Swiatek wasn't even remotely perturbed by Kenin's very suspect medical time out, and just completely blitzed her when they resumed. Pretty incredible run to the title and hopefully we'll see more of the same from her in the future.

Pretty weird. I grew up with the end of Navratilova, then Graf, then a short period, then Williams sisters.

It would be Andreescu next if she wasn't injured all the time.

[selectivememory]

Djokovic is being hammered out there, and he's not even playing that badly.

[BlodwynPig]

Half Allez for another Mladenovic doubles title

[Deanjam]

Nadal's a hell of a player, especially on the clay. Even closing the roof didn't hurt him. Equals Federer's 20 slams. Gotta believe he's more likely to take a 21st.

[selectivememory]

Yeah, at this point it looks inevitable. I guess Thiem on the best day of his life might be able to beat Nadal at the French Open, otherwise I don't see anyone else likely to.

I wonder if Djokovic will catch them. Still obviously huge favourite in Melbourne every year, but at the other majors it feels less and less of sure thing these days. He has to be so angry at himself for blowing his chance at the US Open this year in the way that he did.