May 12, 20214 yr 1 hour ago, shadow_operative2.0 said: The rare triple breadstick for Gauff/Sakkari. Garbine came back to win her match for another classic WTA-special. Naomi continues to be awful on clay. Some Serena chick is on now. 1) The Triple Breadsticks was a WTA classic. 2) Garbiñe won something like 6 of the last 7 games to win 7-5 in the 3rd. What a choke! 3) Naomi AND Medvedev are allergic to clay. 4) VAMOS Fucking ARGENTINA!!
May 12, 20214 yr 7 minutes ago, shadow_operative2.0 said: 1 & 4 for Krejcikova over Sofia, ouch. Sofia fired her dad, but may not have a new coach or a shrink lined up yet 5 minutes ago, shadow_operative2.0 said: Keys eats a breadstick from Swiatek to head to the bar. Keys was leading in the first set and then remembered who she was. I like Keys, I alike Swiatek, I like Kenin, but I do not like Serena. Match #1,000 was one to remember. 😂 Edited May 12, 20214 yr by Napoleon
May 12, 20214 yr Didn’t see it, but doesn’t sound good. She won the first in 27 minutes, sure hope it’s not her Achilles.
May 12, 20214 yr It looked bad for Halep. Sad as she is really solid and seemed like a good bet to challenge Barty at RG. SST is absolutely unwatchable to me, so the highlights of the Giorgi match where when Camila would bend over as she is pretty hot. She hits like Sabalenka but even more out of control. I thought Giorgi was Italian though. Shows what I know.
May 12, 20214 yr She is for tennis. Can’t believe pops didn’t get run from the tourney that day. Quote Giorgi was born in Macerata, Italy, to parents Sergio Giorgi and Claudia Gabriella Fullone, both Argentines of Italian descent who emigrated to Italy from La Plata.
May 12, 20214 yr Just now, shadow_operative2.0 said: She is for tennis. Can’t believe pops didn’t get run from the tourney that day. You basically have to go Mary Pierce dad to get tossed. I think he threatened to kill a ref?
May 12, 20214 yr Talk about draws that fall uneven. Karolina is the only seed left in the bottom. Meanwhile, Barty/Aryna/Iga/Garbine get to murder each other up top.
May 12, 20214 yr I’d like to see Pegula make a run. She’s got game. I think Barty or Sabalenka comes out of the top.
May 12, 20214 yr I need a pick for suicide tomorrow, would prefer to save all the big names for now. Who would you kids take? Ostapenko -160 Podoroska -120 Pegula -165
May 13, 20214 yr 1 hour ago, shadow_operative2.0 said: Coco just sent Aryna to the bar. WTF! Did not see that coming. Perhaps Coco works much better when there aren't many fans around and she has no business winning. Last week in Madrid, Sabalenka was seen midweek as the a possible favorite OVER Barty. The Tennis Podcast people were saying that when Sabalenka is on, there's nothing that anyone on the tour can really do. Her best is the best on tour. They also mentioned at times regarding men's and women's matches that Madrid was a bit of an outlier on the clay court circuit because of the altitude (elevation 2,690ft, so barely over 1/2 mile above sea level), the ball flies much faster there than anywhere else on the clay court circuit. So that helped big hitters like Isner (ATP) and Sabalenka (WTA). The Williams sisters have both accepted last minute wild card invites to the Parma event that starts this Sunday.
May 13, 20214 yr Link to the highlights for Sabalenka v Gauff: About a minute and a half of highlights. https://www.wtatennis.com/videos/2140075/gauff-reaches-4th-qf-of-2021-with-sabalenka-upset-in-rome-highlights
May 13, 20214 yr Isner made a quarterfinal run on clay and now his successor Opelka has made a QF in Italy
May 13, 20214 yr 13 minutes ago, perfectchaos007 said: Isner made a quarterfinal run on clay and now his successor Opelka has made a QF in Italy Opelka is way more likeable and besides having a gigantic serve, limited game, and being 7 feet tall what do they have in common ?
May 14, 20214 yr Pegula lost in straights. Gauff dropped the first set to Barty. Opelka is into the semis.
May 14, 20214 yr Gauff will gladly take that walkover. Barty was in control that match Edited May 14, 20214 yr by perfectchaos007
May 14, 20214 yr Check out Coco's gift here. Winner of Iga/Elina draws the short stick. Novak dropped the first, but their winner gets the extra hours. Gauff's doubles match likely doesn't happen either.
May 15, 20214 yr Swiatek will play at least 4 sets today. Tsitsipas was up a set and a break and then let Djokovic beat him. Sonego using the local to beat Rublev.
May 15, 20214 yr Iga swept all four sets, gets Karolina for the trophy. Gauff/Kudermetova lost their doubles match, saving Coco from playing 3 today.
May 15, 20214 yr Iga v Pliskova is not what I expected, but not unreasonable. Nadal v Joker is so perfect. Nole threw his racket this morning and just kept winning. He is so irritating as an opponent, just fantastic coverage and efficient return. Nadal still isn’t back to form, I am picking Iga and Djoker for the finals.
May 16, 20214 yr Draw for that Fed guy in his Geneva tourney. http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2021/322/mds.pdf
May 16, 20214 yr Fed Ruud would be a fun watch. So would good Shapo v Fed in the final. I just don’t see Fed doing damage at RG this year.
May 16, 20214 yr 15 minutes ago, Hefeweizen said: Fed Ruud would be a fun watch. So would good Shapo v Fed in the final. I just don’t see Fed doing damage at RG this year. I think that he is using the clay season to get match fit. He will do Roland Garros for a final goodbye, but will lose in Week 1 and then he’s all in on grass... and then the Olympics, if they happen. After that he’s just giving it his best, but not expecting anything. His body can’t take daily Best of 3 tournaments, nor Best of 5s with rest days on anything beyond grass. The Olympics should be Best of 3 with rest days. He can play top level tennis, he just can’t sustain it.
May 16, 20214 yr Iga Swiatek has gotten over her spring malaise and is back up among the favorites for a title in Paris. After 4 sets of tennis yesterday... 6-0, 6-0 today!
May 16, 20214 yr Here's the story from the WTA site. The domination was epic. Swiatek whitewashes Pliskova to capture Rome title and break Top 10 Iga Swiatek did not drop a game against Karolina Pliskova in the final of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia for her second trophy of the year. By WTA Staff No.15 seed Iga Swiatek was in ruthless form as she routed No.9 seed Karolina Pliskova 6-0, 6-0 in just 46 minutes in the Internazionali BNL d'Italia final. Swiatek dropped just 13 points in total - four in the first set and nine in the second - and faced only four game points against her. The Pole picks up her third career title following Roland Garros last autumn and Adelaide in February, and the result ensures that she will break the Top 10 for the first time on Monday. It was the first double bagel to decide the Rome title, and the most one-sided Italian Open final since 1983, when Andrea Temesvari defeated Bonnie Gadusek 6-1, 6-0. The last double bagel in a WTA final was Simona Halep's victory over Anastasija Sevastova at Bucharest 2016, and the last at 1000 level or above was Stefanie Graf's rout of Natasha Zvereva at Roland Garros 1988. Not that Swiatek was aware, such was her focus on court. "When my coach told me it was 6-0, 6-0, I was, like, Really? Isn't that a mistake?" she said afterwards. "When I was on the breaks, I was visualising that I'm starting that match from the beginning every time. Actually, I did that so well that I didn't even know that it was 6-0 in the first set... The key is just to not to think about it and just, you know, play. Because when you're gonna think about the score, you can actually ruin your mindset and ruin your attitude." Today also marked the shortest completed WTA final since Istanbul 2009, when Vera Dushevina needed only 42 minutes to beat Lucie Hradecka 6-0, 6-1. Double bagels in WTA finals since 20002006 Québec City, Marion Bartoli d. Olga Puchkova2013 Sydney, Agnieszka Radwanska d. Dominika Cibulkova2016 Bucharest, Simona Halep d. Anastasija Sevastova2021 Rome, Iga Swiatek d. Karolina Pliskova Swiatek had never before scored a double bagel win at pro level, though notably had defeated Pliskova's twin sister Kristyna 6-0, 6-1 to reach her first WTA final at Lugano 2019. For Pliskova, it is just the second time in her career that she has failed to win a game in a completed match following her 6-0, 6-0 loss as a 17-year-old to Anna Korzeniak in the 2009 Latina-Nascosa ITF $10K quarterfinals. A former champion in Rome in 2019 playing her third consecutive final here, a leg injury had forced Pliskova to retire trailing Halep 6-0, 2-1 last year. Swiatek raced out of the blocks and never let up, striking 17 winners to only five unforced errors over the course of the match. By contrast, a slow-starting Pliskova served two double faults in each of her first two service games, and did not find a winner until she was set point down after 19 minutes. "From the beginning I felt that she may be a little bit nervous," said Swiatek. "I wanted to use that and actually play as many games with that vibe as I can. That's why it was pretty fast at the beginning. "I saw that, because I thought her movement wasn't really good, but I also had in my mind that she's gonna start in a minute feeling better and being in a rhythm. So I wasn't really focusing on that." Matters improved for Pliskova in the second set to the extent that she held two break points in the third game and two points to hold in the sixth. But Swiatek was not only in eviscerating form, able to take a stranglehold of rallies immediately and rarely faltering in finishing them off, but hungry for every game. The 19-year-old swatted away every opportunity that Pliskova had to even get on the board with renewed focus, and brought up championship point with another brilliant forehand winner. Swiatek's combination of heavy spin and pace had allowed her to exploit Pliskova's movement throughout the match, and she sealed victory as the Czech sent a forehand wide. The 13 points Swiatek had conceded are the fewest in a 1000-level final. The previous record were the 24 points Serena Williams lost to Carla Suárez Navarro at Miami 2015. "I think she had amazing day and I had horrible day," said Pliskova. "That's one of those combinations which I guess can happen. "I just was feeling horrible out there today. That's one of those days. But I think she really made it extremely difficult for me to do any point and to play anything from my game. She was playing super fast. I thought she was just going for it. "I had a couple, just a couple, of good shots, and I think she can just redirect so well and she can play even faster, and especially on clay. Because she has so much spin, I think it's super tough to do something from it. Especially today she had amazing placement of the ball. Everything was super deep and just close to the lines." The result extends Swiatek's record in finals at all levels to an impressive 16-3 - 6-2 in juniors, 7-0 in ITF events and now 3-1 at WTA level. Swiatek also becomes the third player to win a title after saving match point en route in 2021, alongside Naomi Osaka at the Australian Open and Ashleigh Barty in Miami, having staved off two against Barbora Krejcikova in the third round. The Krejcikova match, in which Swiatek struggled and only gradually found some form, was a turning point. "Actually, it's a good way to call it like two phases of the tournament," Swiatek said. "At the beginning it was really, really hard. I actually wasn't thinking that it's gonna be enough - I'm not talking about winning the tournament - to even do a good result. But day after day I was feeling a little bit better and I just focused on that. I had good people around me that were telling me not to really worry and that sometimes it's the best idea not to care. "I think playing yesterday two matches actually gave me more than it would usually, because I would get tired. But this time I was in a rhythm and I could feel that for three hours yesterday. So it gave me a lot of confidence." [3:07 VIDEO OF HIGHLIGHTS FROM BOTH SETS] https://www.wtatennis.com/news/2145027/swiatek-whitewashes-pliskova-to-capture-rome-title-and-break-top-10
May 16, 20214 yr Never felt like Djoker was going to win it. Rafa made some bad errors in the second set but the third was quality. That Iga match was ridiculously one sided. Like watching a game in easy mode.
May 16, 20214 yr 2 hours ago, Hefeweizen said: ...That Iga match was ridiculously one sided. Like watching a game in easy mode. From her performances this spring and from her comments at the trophy ceremony, I think that it is a decent educated guess that her head was not in the right place this spring. Since Adelaide, she hasn't played like a grand slam champ who confirmed her greatness with a title in Australia. She's played like a Top 40 women's player. Good in some matches, not that great in others. Usually winning one to three matches in a tournament before being knocked out. Today she was playing like a cyborg. If she can keep this mindset, she's up there with Ash Barty & Sabalenka as one of the favorites in Paris. (Osaka & Serena are not favorites. Osaka still sucks on clay and Serena is old and fat... even when "in shape".)
May 16, 20214 yr Serena's actually playing a 250 in Italy this week. Anisimova already won her first, Sloane gets McNally in R1. http://wtafiles.wtatennis.com/pdf/draws/2021/2041/MDS.pdf Edited May 16, 20214 yr by shadow_operative2.0 Could be Serena/Tauson in R2.
May 16, 20214 yr 37 minutes ago, shadow_operative2.0 said: Serena's actually playing a 250 in Italy this week. Anisimova already won her first, Sloane gets McNally in R1. http://wtafiles.wtatennis.com/pdf/draws/2021/2041/MDS.pdf PARMA!!!! Para el queso!! Para siempre!!!
May 17, 20214 yr Venus Williams lost to some American in Parma who is ranked about 125 (or 126), and with all of these losses, I was wondering where Venus was ranked these days.
May 17, 20214 yr Schmiedlova isn’t American, but Venus does need to just go ahead & announce the USO will be her swan song. Camila is serving up 4-3 in the third against McHale on TC now.
May 17, 20214 yr 40 minutes ago, shadow_operative2.0 said: Schmiedlova isn’t American, but Venus does need to just go ahead & announce the USO will be her swan song. Camila is serving up 4-3 in the third against McHale on TC now. I remembered that one American lost to another American today/yesterday and I merged it with Venus being old and getting Wildcard invites and put them together into one post. Maybe Sloane beat Caty McNally. 🤷♂️
May 17, 20214 yr Venus will need to rely on wild cards to get in pretty much every WTA tournament she wants into. The US tournaments will all give her a wildcard entry, but the longer she prolongs her retirement the fewer number of tournaments that will grant her wildcards
May 18, 20214 yr 4 hours ago, perfectchaos007 said: Venus will need to rely on wild cards to get in pretty much every WTA tournament she wants into. The US tournaments will all give her a wildcard entry, but the longer she prolongs her retirement the fewer number of tournaments that will grant her wildcards The thing is that she’s good enough to beat weaker players, but she never plays lesser tournaments (except for Parma), so she rarely wins a match anymore. If not for the crazy ranking system, she’d be outside of the Top 200.
May 18, 20214 yr Tomorrow’s OoP in Geneva, Fed could be somewhere around ~8:30 am our time. http://www.protennislive.com/posting/2021/322/op.pdf
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.