The 2017 In Between Grand Slam Thread

RosyLily

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

I've lost a lot of respect for Sharapova in how she and her team have handled things after the initial announcement/suspension but at the same time I'd kind of love to see her destroy all the players who have been whinging about her getting WCs etc. over the last few weeks.

I was hoping she'd go through qualifying. From a PR standpoint it would have looked good. The whole "I could get a WC if I wanted but I'd rather work my way back" scheme. Even better if she was offered a WC but refused it. Crowds for the qualies would have been big as well. I should be in PR!!:pac:

Looking forward to Sharapova's matches against Mladenovic and Cornet.:D

yerwanthere123

RosyLily wrote: »

I was hoping she'd go through qualifying. From a PR standpoint it would have looked good. The whole "I could get a WC if I wanted but I'd rather work my way back" scheme. Even better if she was offered a WC but refused it. Crowds for the qualies would have been big as well. I should be in PR!!:pac:

Looking forward to Sharapova's matches against Mladenovic and Cornet.:D

Cibulkova should be the best though, she's been by far the most vocal. At least six or seven players have spoken out against her, the Russians are the only ones who've defended her.

lostcat

jr86 wrote: »

Give him a chance, he quite clearly wasn't fit to play monte Carlo was back serving about 4 days only beforehand. Never liked Indian wells and the Aussie was a bit of a freak

A first title in dubai

the begrudgery around murray is baffling

I'm not trying to be begrudging, he earned the no 1 and hats off to him for getting there, but equally he isn't exactly a ...dominant...no 1 at present.
The injuries are unfortunate in fairness, hopefully they will clear up quickly, he will have a hatful of points to start defending soon.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Pretty embarrassing for Konta to be in tears over the Nastase incident.Top level sporstwoman really should be a hell of a lot tougher than that and not let that sort of guff bother her.

Beasty

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

Pretty embarrassing for Konta to be in tears over the Nastase incident.Top level sporstwoman really should be a hell of a lot tougher than that and not let that sort of guff bother her.

Are you for real?????

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

According to twitter Someone from Konta's team died recently and it was confirmed during the week that it was suicide. So she maybe wasn't in the best place before today's nonsense anyway.

Beasty

There are all sorts of issues that affect people in all walks of life. Suggesting someone should toughen up with no knowledge of what that individual is going through is simply not acceptable

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Also the crowd were getting very loud and abusive after Nastase was kicked out which is bound to be an intimidating thing for anyone. That was why play ended up being suspended, so they could get the crowd to calm down.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Beasty wrote: »

There are all sorts of issues that affect people in all walks of life. Suggesting someone should toughen up with no knowledge of what that individual is going through is simply not acceptable

It's perfectly acceptable.She's in the middle of competing at the top level in a sport and some gob****e shouting abuse at her shouldn't have that sort of negative affect.


Can you imagine Nadal or Federer getting bothered by something like that and going off in tears.They'd probably play twice as hard out of spite.

Dirty Dingus McGee

Beasty wrote: »

Are you for real?????

Yes.

yerwanthere123

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

It's perfectly acceptable.She's in the middle of competing at the top level in a sport and some gob****e shouting abuse at her shouldn't have that sort of negative affect.


Can you imagine Nadal or Federer getting bothered by something like that and going off in tears.They'd probably play twice as hard out of spite.

Nadal and Federer would never be subjected to abuse like this for a start. Secondly, Konta is still relatively new to playing tennis at this level, and as such everything that comes with it. Third, she is still no doubt recovering from the suicide of her sports psychologist who she was extremely close to. Leave her the hell alone.

infogiver

RosyLily wrote: »

Just heard about Nastase at Fed Cup. What. The. Fluck!!!:mad:

Makes a comment about Serena's baby, asks Anne Keothavong for her room number and then calls her and Jo Konta "fcuking bitches." All in two days. The ITF has said his credentials have been taken away and he's banned from site. Investigation to follow. I hope he's banned for life. Behaviour like that is not becoming of a Fed Cup captain.

You'd have to wonder about the Romanian tennis hierarchy actually making Nastase captain at all, or even having him around.
He was presented in the 70s as a "character" but lovable.
He wasn't. He was a spoilt bully and people were afraid of him.
Even for the 70s he was mysoginistic and a sex pest portrayed by the media as a "playboy ".
Now he finds himself trapped in a world that no longer exists, but whoever let him into that position should be fired.

Beasty

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

It's perfectly acceptable.She's in the middle of competing at the top level in a sport and some gob****e shouting abuse at her shouldn't have that sort of negative affect.


Can you imagine Nadal or Federer getting bothered by something like that and going off in tears.They'd probably play twice as hard out of spite.

It is not acceptable in any walk of life

Society has moved on. Bullying is no longer considered acceptable, but alas this sort of attitude helps perpetuate it

And there is a difference between gamesmanship and bullying. Nastasie has proven himself to fall into the latter category throughout his career and is clearly still seeing this as something he prides himself on. He should never be allowed anywhere near a tennis court again

Dirty Dingus McGee

Beasty wrote: »

It is not acceptable in any walk of life

Society has moved on. Bullying is no longer considered acceptable, but alas this sort of attitude helps perpetuate it

And there is a difference between gamesmanship and bullying. Nastasie has proven himself to fall into the latter category throughout his career and is clearly still seeing this as something he prides himself on. He should never be allowed anywhere near a tennis court again

I am not saying what Nastatse did was acceptable.What he did was a disgrace however Konta should not have let it bother her and she should been a hell of a lot tougher and been able to deal with it.This incident will probably come back to haunt her as I am sure future opponents will try and wind her up because she has proven she can be wound up.

infogiver

Dirty Dingus McGee wrote: »

I am not saying what Nastatse did was acceptable.What he did was a disgrace however Konta should not have let it bother her and she should been a hell of a lot tougher and been able to deal with it.This incident will probably come back to haunt her as I am sure future opponents will try and wind her up because she has proven she can be wound up.

I don't think it was just that incident that upset her.
He had been an absolute pest around the British team all day, pestering Anna Keothvang (married pregnant and 40 years his junior) for her room number and then being abusive over the UK press reporting his bad behaviour.
So there was a bad atmosphere full of hostility and not conducive to a tennis competition
Enough is enough.
He's a dirt bag and should be banned from all the tournaments

RosyLily

infogiver wrote: »

You'd have to wonder about the Romanian tennis hierarchy actually making Nastase captain at all, or even having him around.
He was presented in the 70s as a "character" but lovable.
He wasn't. He was a spoilt bully and people were afraid of him.
Even for the 70s he was mysoginistic and a sex pest portrayed by the media as a "playboy ".
Now he finds himself trapped in a world that no longer exists, but whoever let him into that position should be fired.

Well said. There's being "a character" and there's being an a*****e.

I'm sure Konta could handle a partisan crowd. But that combined with the captain of the opposing team sticks their oar in, it's a different story. You just don't expect a Fed Cup captain to behave like this. Could you imagine if Kathy Rinaldi did that during the U.S. tie? Or if it happened during Davis Cup?

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Nasty is apparently back court side for the dead doubles rubber. An absolute shambles.

infogiver

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Nasty is apparently back court side for the dead doubles rubber. An absolute shambles.

Shocking

yerwanthere123

Happy Maria Sharapova day everyone!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

The was Sharapova is going she won't be long getting back up the rankings. That win puts her about 260, I think. Not sure about French Open cutoff point but I doubt Wimbledon will have to make a decision on a WC.

RosyLily

Sharapova will face Mladenovic in the Stuttgart SFs. Wonder will there be a handshake....Kristina has been very vocal about the ban.

yerwanthere123

Well Sharapova will certainly go far a handshake anyway, to do otherwise would imply she was bothered in any way as to what Mladenovic thinks. Mladenovic may do otherwise, but I don't think she will, she'd come out of it looking worse. Either way this will probably be Sharapova's first proper test, Mladenovic will be the first form player she's faced so far.

Sharapova seems to be looking good though, seems she won't be too long get back up the rankings. I think she's already got into the French Open qualies, or she will be if she wins today. Open to correction on that. And with wildcards in Madrid and Rome coming, as TME said yesterday, she'll probably get into Wimbledon of her own accord. And you never know, with Serena out and nobody else in decent form, this Summer could be good to Sharapova. All eyes will be on Azarenka when she comes back though imo. How cool would a Sharapova-Azarenka US Open final be?!

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

I fancy Azarenka for the US Open anyway. Read a great interview with her the other day about her time away and her new focus and how happy she is being based back in Minsk again with her family around her. Apparently her mother was very ill last year with breast cancer and it was while she was undergoing treatment they found out about the pregnancy. Bit of a roller coaster year for them all.

jr86

Be nice to see thiem win today, tennis badly needs some new blood contending

A lot has been made about Nadal's "renaissance" but in all honesty he hasn't actually beaten a whole lot in 2017. He's made great use of a trainwreck season in ways

Murray and Djokovic struggling physically and mentally in the latter's case, Nadal is still a long way off his heyday form, Wawrinka still as indifferent as ever in masters, nishikori and raonic struggling physically - Federer the only bright spark and fair play to him

At this rate it wouldn't even shock me see Fed win the French he'll be playing with zero pressure at all and will prob come out swinging - the form he's in every ball will prob paint the lines

lostcat

jr86 wrote: »

Be nice to see thiem win today, tennis badly needs some new blood contending

A lot has been made about Nadal's "renaissance" but in all honesty he hasn't actually beaten a whole lot in 2017. He's made great use of a trainwreck season in ways

Murray and Djokovic struggling physically and mentally in the latter's case, Nadal is still a long way off his heyday form, Wawrinka still as indifferent as ever in masters, nishikori and raonic struggling physically - Federer the only bright spark and fair play to him

At this rate it wouldn't even shock me see Fed win the French he'll be playing with zero pressure at all and will prob come out swinging - the form he's in every ball will prob paint the lines

agree about nadal not having had to beat much thus far, although the same could be said about Federer really. Both are playing pretty well (Federer playing better) but the tour is a bit of a mess apart form those two.

We seem to be finally seeing the end of the 'lesser lights' of that older generation (Tsonga, Berdych, Gasquet et al) as they are being gently supplanted in the ratings by the 20-25 age group.

As for Nadal and Federer, they can only beat what is in front of them. Federer must see this as a fantastic chance to win the French and finally get that 2nd slam. however, he can 'hit the lines' in clay and still see plenty of balls come back at him, so we will see.

looking forward to seeing if Djokovic / Murray can make a stab at consistency in Madrid / Rome.

paulie21

Anyone watching Tennis Tie Break Tens? Live on Dave now

yerwanthere123

Oh dear, Djokovic has fired his coach, fitness trainer and physio... but the creepy love guru stays.

walshb

Huge ask to see Federer win in RG. A bit too slow and gruelling I feel. Nadal's grinding is what works best in Paris.

lostcat

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Oh dear, Djokovic has fired his coach, fitness trainer and physio... but the creepy love guru stays.

well, he got Becker on board at least partly because Marian Vajda (his coach since he basically turned pro) wanted to spend less time on the road, it makes since in a way that he would not want to go back on it full time (and timeshare djokovics headspace with the Love Guru)

will be interesting to see who he gets in, hard to see him getting back to the top without someone substantial in the box (who is he going to remonstrate with during matches while the box remains empty?)

If he is still hungry enough theres no reason he can't get back to no 1 and win a few slams

The djokovic's have apparently confirmed that another baby in on the way in September, so in all fairness the Love Guru is having a positive affect....

Arytonblue

walshb wrote: »

Huge ask to see Federer win in RG. A bit too slow and gruelling I feel. Nadal's grinding is what works best in Paris.

Nadal is certainly the favourite, but then he is the king of clay. For Federer, his resurgence this year has come in direct affront of Nadal and the weaknesses that once undermined him. The weak backhand, the reluctance to engage in long rallies, Fed's beaten Nadal three times this year because he's addressed these issues. If he continues his form he should be able to at least challenge Nadal should they meet in the Quarters. His main challenge will be adapting to clay after not playing for several weeks.