*** Official Tennis Thread Pt. 2****

[anibani]

This isn’t aging well

lol

then again it must be quite hard having the whole audience against you - felt quite bad for bianca for a moment

edit: aged quite well

[Trudope]

i can't believe it. incredible

[JPeeper]

[WoofieNugget]

Thought she might choke the 2nd set but that final game was awesome. Way to go Bianca!

I honestly thought Serena was going to destroy her.

[anibani]

both incredibly inspiring players. loving women’s tennis right now

[Trudope]

Dommy is gonna fcking lol at this but even if Nadal loses tomorrow, I'm a happy camper.

Canada finally has a Grand Slam Champion! Hopefully Felix and Shapo are watching this and take note

[Dominik]

Great to see a teenager with nerves of steel. Last player like that on the men's side was Rafalito Nadal.

Most wilt and crumble against Williams even when they're up a set and a break. She usually comes charging back when she gets a whiff of a choke.

[nvrstopworking]

both incredibly inspiring players. loving women’s tennis right now

Honestly the women’s tour is far more interesting right now. A bunch of players winning slams over the past 2 years... and promising young players stepping up.

Amazing achievement by Bianca. Thought she might choke that 2nd set away but she closed it out beautifully. Don’t see any reason why she shouldn’t be the next beast of women’s tennis.

Hopefully the young guys on the ATP tour were watching this and taking notes.

[Dominik]

0:50 Shriver after her SF win: "I don't think I'd heard of you almost a year ago."

It's a big Serena love-in with US commentators so that's how you shut them up. Take her down in straight sets.

[Dominik]

While the hyping of Serena before matches is probably the worst these commentators do the same thing with Federer and Nadal in an attempt to psyche out younger opponents.

Like "Talk about how great Roger is/how strong a fighter Rafa is?" "How will you beat a XX time slam champion tomorrow?" "<Mention some crazy stat> Do you have any idea how you'll stop him tomorrow when he's playing that well?" As if they shouldn't even turn up and just hand the trophy to them.

It's great to see players who don't buy into it, who believe they can win, and go out there and execute without choking. That's what Andreescu did.

[nvrstopworking]

Would be quite a story if Medvedev could match this feat tomorrow.

[JPeeper]

Great to see Bianca step up in her first majors finals. When Genie made the finals at Wimbledon 5 years back she got absolutely smoked and has been terrible ever since.

[nvrstopworking]

Great to see Bianca step up in her first majors finals. When Genie made the finals at Wimbledon 5 years back she got absolutely smoked and has been terrible ever since.

Genie has about 1/10th of the game that Bianca does.... and she became more focused on her IG and her endorsements than improving her game.

That’s the difference.

[Trudope]

Great to see Bianca step up in her first majors finals. When Genie made the finals at Wimbledon 5 years back she got absolutely smoked and has been terrible ever since.

lol Bouchard wasn't ready and she was over hyped because tennis saw her as a marketing machine. Chris Evert said she was a future #1 after her SF's performance at Australia. Bouchard is still good enough to be top 20, but she has other priorities.

Would be quite a story if Medvedev could match this feat tomorrow.

Problem with Medvedev is he is a bit inconsistent. Sometime's its like trying to hit through a brick wall, other times he'll give you 5 unforced errors in a row.

[Trudope]

people forget that Bouchard could actually play tennis at one point. 19 years old at this time

[Dominik]

On a side note I was thinking yesterday how the timing of Murray's injury really screwed him over.

He reached 11 slam finals and 10 of them were against prime Federer and peak Djokovic.

Spoiler!

Finally Djokovic went off the boil and he couldn't capitalize. He deserved a few more finals like Nadal and Federer got against the likes of Cilic, Anderson, and Medvedev.

[JPeeper]

Genie has about 1/10th of the game that Bianca does.... and she became more focused on her IG and her endorsements than improving her game.

That’s the difference.

Genie had game years ago, don't let her last few years fool you, she has the talent. Difference is that Bianca has a tougher mental game (though Genie back then also had a fairly good mental game), but Bianca also has a killer instinct that Genie lacked. After her semi runs 5 years back the fame went to her head and she has been an insta-model ever since. She posts all the time on her insta and twitter of her working on her game, adding more shots to her game, but it's all empty sentiments as she just loses in the first round/qualifying every tournament.

Genie needs to get a coach and psychologist and she could get back to the top, she has the skill. She's basically a female Kygrios (Kygrios is a lot better though), a ton of talent but a complete headcase/doesn't give a fuk.


Today is about Bianca though and the 30+ million people celebrating her win. If Bianca can stay focused on Tennis and not let outside distractions get to her I can see another major win for her next year.

[nvrstopworking]

I’ve watched some of Genie’s matches over the past 3/4 years and I see nothing to suggest that she’s added anything at all to her game. In fact it seems as though she’s gone backwards. She’s nothing but a baseline ball basher... very similar to Maria tbh (who’s also looked terrible over the past few years). The rest of the tour figured her game out quick after that Wimbledon final and she doesn’t have anything close to the variety of shot (or the serve) that Bianca does. Then you add in the off court distractions and it’s bye bye top 50.

Re: Murray.... yeah Dom I do feel for him a bit... but I will never forgive him for robbing Fed of his gold medal in 2012 lol.

[Trudope]

^ u can thank del potro for that

[Dominik]

Look at the highlights. "fcking lol" Couldn't be any more biased if they tried. Serena classy as ever post match referring to herself as "Serena" (imagine the men doing that) and saying it was her worst match all tournament.



On a serious note Nadal is the male equivalent of Serena in terms of on court presence and it'd be even more intimidating if he were an American playing in NY with a partisan crowd behind him to further psyche out and intimidate the opponent.

I agree the women's game is in better shape right now because a dinosaur in tennis years like Williams isn't having it all her own way out there. Kerber, Osaka, Halep, and now Andreescu have flipped the script. Time for players on the men's side to follow suit.

And on that note it's easy for younger players to think they'll always get more chances. There's no guarantee Medvedev will make another slam final. Also no one gave Wawrinka a chance in 2014 —he'd never taken a set off Nadal let alone a match.

[Jayarbie]

I’ve watched some of Genie’s matches over the past 3/4 years and I see nothing to suggest that she’s added anything at all to her game. In fact it seems as though she’s gone backwards. She’s nothing but a baseline ball basher... very similar to Maria tbh (who’s also looked terrible over the past few years). The rest of the tour figured her game out quick after that Wimbledon final and she doesn’t have anything close to the variety of shot (or the serve) that Bianca does. Then you add in the off court distractions and it’s bye bye top 50.

Re: Murray.... yeah Dom I do feel for him a bit... but I will never forgive him for robbing Fed of his gold medal in 2012 lol.

Genie is mentally one of the weakest players I've ever seen. When she got to the Wimbledon final, she looked so intimidated that she was on the verge of tears the whole match, and she's never recovered from it. I would be shocked if she ever makes an impact on tour again. It's time for her pron career.

[nvrstopworking]

Look at the highlights. "fcking lol" Couldn't be any more biased if they tried. Serena classy as ever post match referring to herself as "Serena" (imagine the men doing that) and saying it was her worst match all tournament.



On a serious note Nadal is the male equivalent of Serena in terms of on court presence and it'd be even more intimidating if he were an American playing in NY with a partisan crowd behind him to further psyche out and intimidate the opponent.

I agree the women's game is in better shape right now because a dinosaur in tennis years like Williams isn't having it all her own way out there. Kerber, Osaka, Halep, and now Andreescu have flipped the script. Time for players on the men's side to follow suit.

And on that note it's easy for younger players to think they'll always get more chances. There's no guarantee Medvedev will make another slam final. Also no one gave Wawrinka a chance in 2014 —he'd never taken a set off Nadal let alone a match.

Lolz. Might have been her worst match all tournament because she didn’t fukking PLAY anyone until the finals (sorry Svitolina). Should have played Barty in the quarters and that didn’t happen... should have played Pliskova or Keys in the semis... didn’t happen... didn’t have to play Osaka or Halep.... her draw was a joke... which has been the trend lately. Why should she be surprised when she gets to the final, has to play an in-form player that’s hungry and firing on all cylinders and then loses?

Thing that she won’t admit is that this is actually the closest that she’s looked to “vintage Serena” since she’s had a kid. Lost a ton of weight... was moving better... hitting her usual big shots... Just ran into a younger version of herself that didn’t fear the big moment.

[JPeeper]

Genie just got a new coach and he has her training serve and volley. Her coach said that by this time next year Genie will be back in the top 30.


Unless Genie deletes all her social media accounts, I just can't see that happening.

[TokenV]

Mertens & Sabalenka win the woman's doubles

[Dominik]

Anyone give the stringbean a chance? Berrettini said he thought Nadal could have played 6 hours. That doesn't bode well for the Russian who says he prefers BO3.

Mirin that vascularity and that's not even his left arm. If anyone can provide me with a photo of Nadal lifting weights — and not wimpy cable exercises — I'll STFU and never say a negative word about Bull again.

[Dominik]

This is why this era is weak sauce. Giftwrapped a nervous start by Nadal. Only got 6/17 first serves in. Gets the break. Gives it back. Should be 3-0 up and not on serve when an opponent is that shaky. Give this guy a sniff and it's over.

Djokovic humiliated him in Melbourne by never taking the pressure off after Nadal's nervous start.

[Dominik]

Whatever these guys are paying their coaches they should pay double for a decent shrink.

Someone who can brainwash them to go into semi-tank mode on return games slapping shots a la Kyrgios with no fuks given once they're up a break. Someone who can convince them they will lose every slam match to the top players if they play it safe.

Nadal is getting only 40% of 1st serves in, has hit a paltry 3 winners, and is 4-3. Find me a match where someone has won a set getting 40% of 1st serves in. Wouldn't be many.

[nvrstopworking]

Shaky start but he still has a chance provided he can take this first set.

[Dominik]

Djokovic would flog this Nadal. 5 winners. <50% of 1st serves in.

Whatever Toni paid organizers to shoehorn Stan into Novak's quarter was worth it.

I've heard some compare Medvedev to Davydenko. Only in the hair department. Considering he owned peak Nadal on HC Davydenko would absolutely slaughter this version.

[Dominik]

And that's all she wrote. As predictable as bull sniffing his fingers after fishing out a wedgie.

Still puzzles me that none of these mugs have worked on a strategy to counter his return position. Are they scared to upset him with the occasional underarm serve? This garbage doesn't work against Federer or Djokovic but without them keeps vulturing weak draws and facing players who have had years to come up with a solution. It's embarrassing now.

Federer might like Nadal on a personal level but there is no way he could respect that bush league tactic when he's capable of returning from the service box. This is awful tennis.