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focus
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 10:22 am    Post subject:

Both Fed and Serena were in Wimbledon finals a couple slams ago, and Serena was in US Open final. They are older but they are still in the running. Nadal and Djokovic clearly better than him over a year but he's there. On women's side, no one is just stepping up and dominating among the rest (see Osaka, Naomi), in fact all of the players have choked themselves recently (halep, Pliskova). Andreescu who beat Serena in NY gets hurt a lot (not a choker whatsoever). So it's not a moonshot to see her getting things together for a single slam.
Fed had match points on Djokovic at Wimbledon. So they're right there and neither lost because of injury. I wouldn't put money on either in any particular Slam as the favorite, but could see them winning it too (except for French Open clay).
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 10:41 am    Post subject:

I suppose Serena could win another slam. She had a couple majors just open up for her last year, but she still lost. The women's field is wide but not very deep. There are just a lot of generic players who are good enough to win a major if everything goes right, but also capable of losing in the first week. So I suppose Serena will always have a chance.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 11:27 am    Post subject:

Aeneas Hunter wrote:
I suppose Serena could win another slam. She had a couple majors just open up for her last year, but she still lost. The women's field is wide but not very deep. There are just a lot of generic players who are good enough to win a major if everything goes right, but also capable of losing in the first week. So I suppose Serena will always have a chance.

I fully agree. It's odd, you would think someone amongst that top group would be mentally tough enough and driven to just see the void and fill it.

I actually like Andreescu's mindset the best, though her injuries have hampered her. #15 American Sofia or Sonia Kenin is a player with a fantastic drive and fire in her belly but I don't see a game that is clearly superior to others yet. She's 21 so lots of time. I hope she studies Medvedev on the men's side to develop countertactics that rile the opponent and just for variety. She has a Nadal-like intensity and fearlessness. Hard to see her beating Andreescu, halep, Gauff and the others out though to actually get Slams.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 12:39 pm    Post subject:

I thought that the next big thing was going to be Azarenka. I guess she's had injury issues and personal issues, but regardless she has regressed to the middle of the pack. Osaka might still get it together. Otherwise, it just seems like stream of likeable but largely fungible players from around the world. I guess the #1 is Barty this year. Last year it was Halep. I miss the days when players like Serena, Venus, Steffi, Monica, Martina, and Chrissie were out ahead of the pack on a consistent basis.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 12:59 pm    Post subject:

Aeneas Hunter wrote:
I thought that the next big thing was going to be Azarenka. I guess she's had injury issues and personal issues, but regardless she has regressed to the middle of the pack. Osaka might still get it together. Otherwise, it just seems like stream of likeable but largely fungible players from around the world. I guess the #1 is Barty this year. Last year it was Halep. I miss the days when players like Serena, Venus, Steffi, Monica, Martina, and Chrissie were out ahead of the pack on a consistent basis.


AH, I think players of those calibers are things of the past. I don't follow tennis closely. It doesn't hold the fascination it did in days gone by. Youngsters like Osaka and Gauff catch my attention. I don't yet see any who will be another Serena, Martina, Evert and such. There are some trying to grasp the reins but have a long way to go.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 1:09 pm    Post subject:

Agree again. I thought so too on Azarenka (she has plenty of fire). She's a mom now too along with the stuff you mentioned.

I think if you see Andreescu, you will see the complete package. But health is the issue for sure. She's legit.

For the players you listed, they had clear undeniable talent that differentiated them from the start. Some element of power usually or something. Justine Henin was truly a special talent and probably in retrospect the best player (other than Venus) over Serena's tenure (including Sharapova). That backhand.
Halep, Pliskova, Barty, who else, a bunch of -ovas. Pretty much all about the same level.Osaka has differentiating power but her mental game is same, win some lose terribly later, up and down. Barty seems like a solid person, and I hope she wins her home tourney if Gauff doesn't just to give her a good confidence level for the year after being number one last year. I think she won the French too, so it's not like she'd blow that off for the final two Slams. But yeah Andreescu is for real.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 1:17 pm    Post subject:

There is nothing in pro sports more enjoyable to me than to watch Federer play. Match point v. Millman - both of the 2 final shots of the rally hit by Millman should have won him the point, but Federer absorbed them both and even hit a winner off of Millman's short, high forehand. Unbelievable.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 3:47 pm    Post subject:

Huey Lewis & The News wrote:
There is nothing in pro sports more enjoyable to me than to watch Federer play. Match point v. Millman - both of the 2 final shots of the rally hit by Millman should have won him the point, but Federer absorbed them both and even hit a winner off of Millman's short, high forehand. Unbelievable.


He guessed right on the final shot, for sure.

As far as the above talk on Azarenka, her career was essentially ruined after she had a child. It wasn't just that she obviously had to take many months off after she was pregnant and then with the immediate aftermath of the birth. It's that she became involved in a bitter child custody dispute with the father of her child, and she couldn't travel as a result of it. Essentially, she couldn't have her career for a while. When all of that was finally settled, she came back but she's never been the same.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 3:54 pm    Post subject:

focus wrote:
Agree again. I thought so too on Azarenka (she has plenty of fire). She's a mom now too along with the stuff you mentioned.

I think if you see Andreescu, you will see the complete package. But health is the issue for sure. She's legit.

For the players you listed, they had clear undeniable talent that differentiated them from the start. Some element of power usually or something. Justine Henin was truly a special talent and probably in retrospect the best player (other than Venus) over Serena's tenure (including Sharapova). That backhand.
Halep, Pliskova, Barty, who else, a bunch of -ovas. Pretty much all about the same level.Osaka has differentiating power but her mental game is same, win some lose terribly later, up and down. Barty seems like a solid person, and I hope she wins her home tourney if Gauff doesn't just to give her a good confidence level for the year after being number one last year. I think she won the French too, so it's not like she'd blow that off for the final two Slams. But yeah Andreescu is for real.


I will pay attention to Andreescu. Thanks for the tip. I agree about Henin.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 4:13 pm    Post subject:

ChickenStu wrote:
As far as the above talk on Azarenka, her career was essentially ruined after she had a child. It wasn't just that she obviously had to take many months off after she was pregnant and then with the immediate aftermath of the birth. It's that she became involved in a bitter child custody dispute with the father of her child, and she couldn't travel as a result of it. Essentially, she couldn't have her career for a while. When all of that was finally settled, she came back but she's never been the same.


She had already missed a lot of time with injuries. I think it was some sort of foot problem. Then there was a knee injury. I think she has said that she started having issues with depression. I saw her play somewhere in that time period, and she was far from an elite level. Then she got pregnant, and she’s never come close to her old form. It’s impossible for any of us to assign relative blame to any of these factors, or to know whether she just lost her edge after she had a bunch of success. This has been true of many other players, especially women who have seemingly been playing pro since they were in diapers. However, while I don’t dispute what you say about the pregnancy and its aftermath, I can say she was in decline before the pregnancy.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 6:19 pm    Post subject:

Coco doing some damage!
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 24, 2020 9:39 pm    Post subject:

LakerLanny wrote:
Coco doing some damage!

She's only 15. Imagine what she'll be like when she grows up.

#1 Nadal having a easy go of it with #27 Carreno Busta.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 25, 2020 4:22 am    Post subject:

Kyrgios was up two sets to none on Khachanov, but after an easy 6-2 opening set win for Kyrgios, it's been all tiebreaks since, and we're about to go to the fifth set match tiebreak. The Russian's play has steadily improved throughout the match.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 25, 2020 4:43 am    Post subject:

Kyrgios wins the match tiebreak 10-8! Unfortunately for him, he has to play Nadal next, who cruised today, and this match just took well over 4 hours. He is 3-4 against Nadal, but after the physical nature of this match, it's going to be extremely difficult for him to stay with Nadal in a best 3-of-5 set match.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 25, 2020 4:52 am    Post subject:

ChickenStu wrote:
Kyrgios wins the match tiebreak 10-8! Unfortunately for him, he has to play Nadal next, who cruised today, and this match just took well over 4 hours. He is 3-4 against Nadal, but after the physical nature of this match, it's going to be extremely difficult for him to stay with Nadal in a best 3-of-5 set match.


How are you viewing these matches? tennistv, espn on tv/streaming, a pirated streaming site, etc?
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 25, 2020 5:57 am    Post subject:

Huey Lewis & The News wrote:
ChickenStu wrote:
Kyrgios wins the match tiebreak 10-8! Unfortunately for him, he has to play Nadal next, who cruised today, and this match just took well over 4 hours. He is 3-4 against Nadal, but after the physical nature of this match, it's going to be extremely difficult for him to stay with Nadal in a best 3-of-5 set match.


How are you viewing these matches? tennistv, espn on tv/streaming, a pirated streaming site, etc?


ESPN2 on my cable TV.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 25, 2020 6:21 am    Post subject:

ChickenStu wrote:
Huey Lewis & The News wrote:
ChickenStu wrote:
Kyrgios wins the match tiebreak 10-8! Unfortunately for him, he has to play Nadal next, who cruised today, and this match just took well over 4 hours. He is 3-4 against Nadal, but after the physical nature of this match, it's going to be extremely difficult for him to stay with Nadal in a best 3-of-5 set match.


How are you viewing these matches? tennistv, espn on tv/streaming, a pirated streaming site, etc?


ESPN2 on my cable TV.


thank you sir
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 25, 2020 9:49 am    Post subject:

Huey Lewis & The News wrote:
ChickenStu wrote:
Huey Lewis & The News wrote:
ChickenStu wrote:
Kyrgios wins the match tiebreak 10-8! Unfortunately for him, he has to play Nadal next, who cruised today, and this match just took well over 4 hours. He is 3-4 against Nadal, but after the physical nature of this match, it's going to be extremely difficult for him to stay with Nadal in a best 3-of-5 set match.


How are you viewing these matches? tennistv, espn on tv/streaming, a pirated streaming site, etc?


ESPN2 on my cable TV.


thank you sir

I have DTV. They air 7 channels. 701 thru 707. Who's your provider?
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 25, 2020 9:58 am    Post subject:

jodeke wrote:
Huey Lewis & The News wrote:
ChickenStu wrote:
Huey Lewis & The News wrote:
ChickenStu wrote:
Kyrgios wins the match tiebreak 10-8! Unfortunately for him, he has to play Nadal next, who cruised today, and this match just took well over 4 hours. He is 3-4 against Nadal, but after the physical nature of this match, it's going to be extremely difficult for him to stay with Nadal in a best 3-of-5 set match.


How are you viewing these matches? tennistv, espn on tv/streaming, a pirated streaming site, etc?


ESPN2 on my cable TV.


thank you sir

I have DTV. They air 7 channels. 701 thru 707. Who's your provider?


I cut the cord.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 25, 2020 12:42 pm    Post subject:

Huey Lewis & The News wrote:
jodeke wrote:
Huey Lewis & The News wrote:
ChickenStu wrote:
Huey Lewis & The News wrote:
ChickenStu wrote:
Kyrgios wins the match tiebreak 10-8! Unfortunately for him, he has to play Nadal next, who cruised today, and this match just took well over 4 hours. He is 3-4 against Nadal, but after the physical nature of this match, it's going to be extremely difficult for him to stay with Nadal in a best 3-of-5 set match.


How are you viewing these matches? tennistv, espn on tv/streaming, a pirated streaming site, etc?


ESPN2 on my cable TV.


thank you sir

I have DTV. They air 7 channels. 701 thru 707. Who's your provider?


I cut the cord.


I tried but my IPTV NITRO isn't very reliable. Lots of buffering and nothing consistent on NBA League Pass and NFL Sunday Ticket. Showtime and such just aren't what I expected.
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 25, 2020 6:17 pm    Post subject:

ESPN+ has all of the matches
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 25, 2020 6:58 pm    Post subject:

DuncanIdaho wrote:
ESPN+ has all of the matches


ty
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 26, 2020 12:01 am    Post subject:

Kenin ended up routing Gauff after dropping the opening set tiebreak. Just broke down her forehand. If Gauff gets a strong forehand, I really don't see a weakness in her game. Her serve at age 15 is remarkable, and she already commands the net really, really well, because she has a great volley and a wonderful overhead, too. The movement is A+ and her backhand is top-quality. But her forehand is significantly below-average for a top player, so she'll need to improve that. But hey, she has time to. Again, she's 15!
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 26, 2020 6:33 pm    Post subject:

FYI
https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/28571781/tennis-community-pays-tribute-kobe-bryant-one-world-greatest-sportsmen

https://www.tennis.com/pro-game/2020/01/tennis-world-mourns-loss-nba-legend-kobe-bryant/87129/


I hope Kyrgios beats Nadal and has to dig deep as heck to do it Kobeesque (we know Nadal always is) even though Nick's a longtime Celtics fan. Hope Stan plays really top notch vs Medvedev to make it a great match, and Rublev and especially Zverev both put on a top level show.
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 28, 2020 12:09 am    Post subject:

Kyrgios honored Kobe by wearing a Kobe jersey out to the court, even warmed up in it. Here is a photo.

Dude had tears in his eyes, like I'm sure we all did at some point. Then he had to play an absolute machine in Nadal. Put in a really good match though, it kept me up all night watching.
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