2023 Tennis
- Thread starter jon abbey
- Start date
I'm so so so so so happy for Coco. Just an incredible performance. I was in tears as she fell to her knees on the court. For real. Just an amazing moment in sport, and obviously, in her life personally.
Is there something more Im missing besides a 19yo winning? Her pedigree, from what I understand, is top shelf.
I enjoyed this match immensely.
Sabalenka can absolutely bang the ball and Gauff was just so technically precise in her responses and ability to play the length of the points.
It was a fun match to watch.
BTW, maybe I was primed by Gilbert in the stands, and maybe I should not be such a fair weather fan, but ... is Gauff kinda a pusher?
Sabalenka can absolutely bang the ball and Gauff was just so technically precise in her responses and ability to play the length of the points.
It was a fun match to watch.
BTW, maybe I was primed by Gilbert in the stands, and maybe I should not be such a fair weather fan, but ... is Gauff kinda a pusher?
I think she used her speed and endurance today, as well as some pushing, to frustrate and tire out Sabalenka. It was abundantly clear in the third set that the team Coco has surrounding her had prepped well for this particular opponent.
If you trust the official measurements, Sabalenka has 3 inches and 50 pounds on her, Coco usually is much more aggressive than this but when she tried that today (not too often), it wasn't very successful. Her defense was truly remarkable though, not just getting back balls but getting them back into positions where Sabalenka often didn't even have an advantage anymore.
Coco has been my favorite women's player since first emerging in 2020 at 15, so so so happy for her!!!
Coco has been my favorite women's player since first emerging in 2020 at 15, so so so happy for her!!!
How can your favorite players be Djokovic and Coco??????
Personally, I think she's everything that's great about sports.
I'm old enough to remember when CBS had the US Open. Early kickoff was the lead in to the men's finals. I think they lost the rights in the prime Federer/Nadal years.
IIRC it was also after a few years of bad weather where the men’s final ended up getting postponed until Monday (pre roof obviously).
I don't think regular season NFL was as big a ratings hit as it was today in the early/mid aughts, right?
And US Open was still a Dick Enberg staple!
And US Open was still a Dick Enberg staple!
didn't realize Wertheim had a tennis column at SI 50 Parting Thoughts From the U.S. Open 2023 - Sports Illustrated
I thought Medvedev had him at this point -- Djokovic looked tired and even fell to the ground (on purpose) once or twice. But he found that extra gear, somehow. It was remarkable, especially since he's 36 after a long year of tennis.
Djokovic was also lucky to have a very favorable draw for the first six rounds, so he had more left in the tank for yesterday.
I’ll say it for the 50th time, but to me it is batshit insane for the #1 player to be on the same side of the draw as the #3 player, and in this case it probably decided the tournament.
I’ll say it for the 50th time, but to me it is batshit insane for the #1 player to be on the same side of the draw as the #3 player, and in this case it probably decided the tournament.
Why do they do that? It should ALWAYS be 1-4, 2-3, and NEVER 1-3, 2-4.
Otherwise seeding makes no sense. Why even bother?
I believe 1/2 are on opposite halves, then 3/4...then 5-8 you will have 2 on one half, 2 on the other (technically it could end up being 5/6 on one half, 7/8 on other). Same for 9-16...then 17-32.
I think the reasoning to do it randomly and not straight up is to avoid having the same match ups in consecutive events when rankings don't change much. But also take into consideration the rankings apply to the whole year, and these guys all vary on their surface ability. So this years US Djokovic had the 4/5/7 seed on his half; Alcaraz had the 3/6/8. Seeding wise, Alcaraz actually had a slightly easier half...but going in everyone thought Djokovic had the easier half because those 4/5/7 seeds (Rune, Rude, Tsitsipas) didnt pose nearly the threat the the 3/6 (Med, Sinner) and 12th seed (Zverev) did.
Then adjust your seedings accordingly, but have 1 and 4 on the same side, and 2 and 3 on the same side.
I always liked it in the Big 3 years. You had a top three that was by far and away the best in the game, and any of the three could probably be number one. But if you forced one of them to ALWAYS have to beat the other two in order to win a title, and one of them only has to win one match, the rankings long term would be skewed towards whoever only had to play the one match. By rotating you ensured that all three greats occasionally had to play each other.
I get the reasoning for standard seeding, especially in a more normalized sport where you play an entire season leading up to one tournament. But tennis rankings and seedings evolve week to week and tournament to tournament, and you've also got the whole defending your points angle which is also asinine. The real solution would probably be allowing a seeding committee to seed NOT solely relying on ranking (which I think used to happen at the French and Wimby, but not sure it happens anymore).
Hmm, not even sure it held up then as Andy Murray was in that same group for a while (top 4 for most of the stretch between 2008-2017 and #1 for 41 weeks in there).
Yeah to be clear, Im not really a fan either. I just am not a fan of using rankings for seedings and then doing 1/4, 2/3 etc etc. There is no world where Ruud, as one example, shouldve been the 4th seed at this years Wimbledon. Have a seeding committee...and then do 1/4, 2/3 etc.
I think this would be impossible, not even rare or unlikely but pretty much impossible.
Although then you get into the seeding committee needing to be unbiased, in a world where Coco Gauff's coach is one of the main TV commentators.
Fair. I wonder if the solution for the slams is kind of a mixture of ATP/WTA officials, with reps from each slam to seed for each slam.
I think I would just do a mathematical system for each of the four Slams, maybe 1/2 overall world ranking and 1/2 world ranking just on that surface (hardcourts, clay, grass), and then just go 1/128, 2/127, all the way through. Give that a year or two and see how it goes, I know I would be so much more into the fairness of that as a player.
Good approach, grass might be a problem given it's such a short season but whatever. But yeah I do like the 1/128 idea, because while we are compaining about the 1/3 2/4 stuff, those are kind of minor issues IMO compared to things like the 1st seed matching up against the 33rd ranked player in the 1st round, which can happen.
Simona Halep suspended 4 years for violating the Tennis Anti-Doping Program - The Athletic
I think Halep's career is done (unless the Saudis create Liv Tennis)
I think Halep's career is done (unless the Saudis create Liv Tennis)
I hope we get full uncensored Nick:
“Nick Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios), whose electric style of play and straight-to-the-point conversational approach have endeared him to millions of fans around the world, is joining Tennis Channel as an analyst during its coverage of the ATP Finals November 12-19.”
“Nick Kyrgios (@NickKyrgios), whose electric style of play and straight-to-the-point conversational approach have endeared him to millions of fans around the world, is joining Tennis Channel as an analyst during its coverage of the ATP Finals November 12-19.”
We're in the round robin part of the ATP year-end championships, two round robin pools of 4, best of 3 set matches.
Djokovic and Sinner playing now, Sinner won the first set 7-5 and had some chances late in the 2nd, before Djokovic won a tiebreak 7-5 to tie it. Third set was on serve until Sinner broke to go up 4-2, and since he hadn't been broken all match, looked like he was in good shape.
Of course then Djokovic broke him and now it's back to 4-4 after a love hold from Djokovic.
Djokovic and Sinner playing now, Sinner won the first set 7-5 and had some chances late in the 2nd, before Djokovic won a tiebreak 7-5 to tie it. Third set was on serve until Sinner broke to go up 4-2, and since he hadn't been broken all match, looked like he was in good shape.
Of course then Djokovic broke him and now it's back to 4-4 after a love hold from Djokovic.
Djokovic and Alcaraz are both in danger of being eliminated in the round-robin, both are 1-1 with a match remaining. They each need to win their final match and then hope if there ends up being a three-way tie at 2-1 (quite possible in both pools) that they advance via tiebreakers (not the tennis kind, the two teams/athletes tied in the standings kind).
Djokovic faces Hurkacz (a replacement after Tsitsipas withdrew), Alcaraz faces the 2-0 Medvedev.
https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/current/nitto-atp-finals/605/group-standings
Djokovic faces Hurkacz (a replacement after Tsitsipas withdrew), Alcaraz faces the 2-0 Medvedev.
https://www.atptour.com/en/scores/current/nitto-atp-finals/605/group-standings