2018 In Between Grand Slam Thread

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

And we're off.....

yerwanthere123

Has anyone read, or is planning to read, Sharapova's book Unstoppable? I got it for Christmas and I'm almost finished it. I think I'll actually like her less by time I've finished it, which I wasn't really expecting to happen.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Has anyone read, or is planning to read, Sharapova's book Unstoppable? I got it for Christmas and I'm almost finished it. I think I'll actually like her less by time I've finished it, which I wasn't really expecting to happen.

Haven't read it but it seems to have had the opposite effect on people who didn't like her prior to reading it.

dominatinMC

I see that it's being reported on twitter that Djokovic has pulled out of Abu Dhabi due to that chronic elbow issue. Hope it's nothing serious, but it sounds worrying after all that time off, and not a good omen for 2018.

jr86

Not good at all..

It seems Murray cut a training camp in Miami short and is unsure about AO warm ups (although it seems he's playing an exhibition in Abu Dhabi later anyway), while I think I read Stan is still struggling to play full points in practice

Nadal has pulled out of Brisbane

Wouldn't surprise me if any of the above pulled out of Melbourne, sadly.

Yerwanthere123 referenced it in the other thread that Murray shouldn't rush back, and I'd agree that if there's any issues he'd be far better holding off till Miami anyway and play 1 or 2 clay tournaments and aim for Wimbledon

yerwanthere123

Fun little match between Serena and Ostapenko there, with Ostapenko winning in a second set super tie-break. Serena looks as if she has a little of the baby weight to lose yet, she was very low to start but the level improved a lot as the match went on. Remains to be seen whether she was just showing up to collect the pay cheque or whether she'll play in Melbourne.

Floppybits

Murray has pulled out of Brisbane.  From his statement on his Facebook page I cant see him making the Australian Open.

jr86

Can't see Murray playing AO. By all accounts he was a long way from full fitness in an exhibition only a few days ago, and I don't see him playing without a proper warm up.

He's as well off do a training camp in Miami and aim to make his competitive comeback there late March (that's if he doesn't need surgery)

Will probably be another write-off season though for him, and you'd have to have reservations as to whether he'll ever rediscover his best form. I doubt Lendl jumped ship lightly and he's hardly been gleaming with positivity himself the last few days

Wawrinka, Djokovic and Nadal look to have tentatively committed to Melbourne anyway by entering an exhibition next week. That said I still wouldn't be shocked to see ND pull out but I'd imagine Nadal will play anyway no matter how fit.

Add Raonic (still not fully fit) and Nishikori (will probably pull out of AO) to the mix and it's a heavily depleted field again (in terms of withdrawals and top players not 100%).

Hopefully - for the game - it yields a new slam winner

dominatinMC

Agree with most of what jr86 said. Murray's hip issue is very worrying, and his Facebook statement was ominous in tone. Seems like surgery is now at the forefront of his options, and it is obvious he is reluctant to pursue this option. Sadly, we may have seen the last of Murray at the top tier of tennis. I hope I am wrong, but such is the fickle nature of top level sports.

The AO is beginning to resemble last years US Open, and the last man standing will win it! I hope Dimitrov takes advantage of the weakened field, would love to see his undoubted talent translate to a slam win

jr86

Yeah I hadn't actually read his statement until now (they're generally PR soundbites), but typical Murray it was frank, honest and open

Very ominous tone indeed and it would appear surgery is on the cards, which will probably rule him out for the majority of the season if he goes ahead with it

Beyond that though, it's hard to look past the grave possibility that this could well be career threatening at this stage.

yerwanthere123

Very concerning and sad to read about Andy. What's striking is the fact that surgery is the secondary option, the one he wants to avoid, and yet the chances of a successful outcome are still not as "high as he would like"? Seems like a damned is he does, damned if he doesn't situation. Either way, it seems as if 2018 is mostly going to be a write-off for him, and he won't be playing much top-level tennis. He clearly needs a long time out of the game. At his age, that's obviously not ideal, to say the least, but who knows? Next year he'll be 31, still not too old to compete at the highest level, and it's not as if the younger generation are closing in massively, we've been waiting for them for years, maybe he can still be a force? His best tennis is more than likely behind him, but it may not be all over yet.

mickmackey1

Could never warm to the bloke but it's obviously concerning. Fed's miracle working makes us forget that 30/31 is still a real veteran age for a tennis pro.

jr86

Murray officially withdraws.

No surprise, but obviously the big question is what exactly this means for the rest of 2018, and indeed the rest of his career

Nishikori has also unsurprisingly withdrawn. Sadly it seems his body has ultimately hindered him really fulfilling his potential

Djokovic is still a big question mark, it wouldn't shock me at all to see him sit it out

In other (lower profile) absentee news, Tomic hasn't been given a wildcard (delighted!) and has refused to enter qualifying

NoviGlitzko

Tomic not getting a WC is terrific news. Hopes he retires and f*cks off from the sport for good.

yerwanthere123

Tomic was defending third round points too, so the ranking will plummet even further. If he couldn't motivate himself to play qualies at his home slam then what's he got left really? Seems like it really is all over.

Floppybits

I'd be worried for Murray now, this hip injury could finish him. You have to wonder what the grinding game played by players is taking out of them.

lostcat

Floppybits wrote: »

I'd be worried for Murray now, this hip injury could finish him. You have to wonder what the grinding game played by players is taking out of them.

terrible for Murray, and with Djokovic also still not properly healed, in hindsight they might have been both better off to bite the bullet and have the surgery last July, they can't have been any worse off than they are now.

I was looking forward to what could have been the final year of the 'big 4/5' all playing at a decent level and at the same time, doesn't look like it will happen now

I don't think the grinding game can be attributed to the Djokovic injury (elbow), or Stans, who is hardly a grinder. Nadals and Murrays probably can be.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Serena had withdrawn from the Australian Open. Not really a surprise. Says she can compete but not to the level she would like so she's going to take a bit more time.

jr86

I genuinely thought at the time Djokovic's break was more of an "out of love with tennis need a few months away from the sport" than a genuine injury absence. But it certainly seems serious.

However an elbow issue won't really affect his physical fitness and stamina, unlike Murray's, so getting up to speed won't be such an issue when he does return to competitive action.

Hindsight is wonderful and all that but I wonder was Murray's fully loaded second half of 2016 the beginning of the end for him. The effort to get to number 1 surely took a lot out of him physically, he played a hell of a lot of matches in that time. His scheduling was a bit bizarre up to Wimbledon in 2017 too, despite looking nowhere near fit all season.
There was even talks of him trying to return to Vienna in October and he pulled out of Cinicinatti and US Open at the 11th hour. One would wonder from the outside, is he too stubborn for his own good at times (was this even a factor in Lendl jumping ship?)?

josip

So if we discount all the definitely possibly injureds from the mens who's left with a realistic chance of winning?
Delpo, Fed, Raonic?

mickmackey1

+ Goffin, Dimitrov, even Kyrgios is playing well in Brisbane.

Pistachios & cream

TICKLE_ME_ELMO wrote: »

Serena had withdrawn from the Australian Open. Not really a surprise. Says she can compete but not to the level she would like so she's going to take a bit more time.

I’m not too surprised, she didn’t look to be at full fitness playing ostapenko so there’s no way she’d be able to defend a grand slam. It’s a smart decision, coming back too early there’s a real possibility of early losses in tournaments and that would damage the ‘aura’ of invincibility she has.

I’d say she will probably aim to return in Miami. It’s a big tournament she has a great relationship with and is basically in her back yard.

yerwanthere123

Another huge name caught! Thomaz Belluci failed a drug test last year and got a silent ban, so will be back playing in February. So much for that promise that test failures would be made public immediately.

https://twitter.com/josemorgado/status/948997989703540737


I'd like to know how he proved this and why they let him off, particularly since what he tested positive for was a diuretic, something designed to be a masking agent.


Regarding Serena, will be interesting to see when she does come back. I mean she'd probably be ready by the Indian Wells/Miami swing, but I somehow can't see it being until Wimbledon. I doubt she'd want the French to be her first slam back, may as well wait until she's on a surface where she's much more comfortable.

yerwanthere123

Had never heard of him before he lost in the Brisbane QF's today, but American Michael Mmoh is half-Irish, so that's someone we can kinda cheer for

Sam Barry, meanwhile, was playing in the Auckland qualies but has already lost in three sets to Dutra Silva.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Had never heard of him before he lost in the Brisbane QF's today, but American Michael Mmoh is half-Irish, so that's someone we can kinda cheer for
.

He was born in Saudi Arabia. His mother is Irish but also an Australian citizen, his father is Nigerian, and he represents the United States

yerwanthere123

Nice win for Kyrgios in front of his home crowd, hope it motivates him for Melbourne. He could be a contender to win if he wants it enough, but won't hold my breath.

Good to see Svitolina win on the women's side, she's a contender to win in Melbourne too if she can avoid the biggest hitters. Also nice to see Goerges pick up where she left off in 2017 by winning Auckland.

lostcat

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Nice win for Kyrgios in front of his home crowd, hope it motivates him for Melbourne. He could be a contender to win if he wants it enough, but won't hold my breath.

I can't see him holding it together for 2 full weeks, but who knows what kind of a draw will fall his way. Its the hardest slam to call for a long time, which makes it interesting.

Fed would be my clear favourite if the draw falls his way (a la Nadal at US Open 17)

yerwanthere123

Yeah, Federer is the favourite, almost by default really. Nadal, Djokovic and Wawrinka may not yet play and it doesn't look like any of the next generation down are ready to step up yet.

jr86

All about the draw really.

The thing is Kyrgios has such a weapon in his serve that can help him breeze through matches, and always gives him a glimmer against any player. He's very hard to break on this form so you're hoping to sneak tie-breaks against him really

Federer the clear favourite, but he's 36 now and I don't think he'll be as consistent as last season. When he came back last January he was playing with a sort of nothing-to-lose freedom to his game, he's more of a marked man now. He showed signs of a few niggles in late-2017 too, so there's no way I'd back him at his odds

All on the draw though!

yerwanthere123

Very weird we're facing an Australian Open with potentially no Nadal, Djokovic, Wawrinka and of course Murray is out as we know. It's the kind of draw you'd expect to see at the end of the season rather than the beginning.

Sloane and Bouchard's losing streak continue, with the former winless since the US Open and the latter now out of the top 100.

Meanwhile there's this
https://twitter.com/tumcarayol/status/950154415377342465

Playing Kooyong as well, so AO qualies still on the cards it seems. Seems as though maybe someone had a word, something like "ya know Bernie if you snub the Australian Open your career is kind of over" perhaps?

jr86

Yeah looks like someone has talked a bit of sense into him.

I'm sure this decision is really about the $$$ though, as it would appear he has little to no interest in the sport.

Pulling out of the AO means he could slip down to nearly 200 in the rankings. He'll make a relative pittance out of Challengers

It was only over the weekend I was reading James McGee's story and his struggle for funding and getting by on tour. Very hard to see a guy like Tomic getting any respect on the Challenger tour.

The guy is a complete oddball though, his speaking accent alone changes by the week.

Pistachios & cream

Not surprisingly Victoria Azarenka has also withdrawn from the Australian Open. It will probably be Indian Wells before we see her again. AFAIK she can't leave the state of california with her child so she should be able to play in Indian wells.

Floppybits

Murray is out now till the grass court season. He had hip surgery in melbourne today.

He has said that he will work a shorter schedule targeting the bigger competitions.

jr86

In hindsight it's a pity he couldn't have had this early 2017, but was probably told and understandably felt that rest and rehab could sort it, given surgery is a last resort really.

Anyhow even though I'd doubt Murray will ever return towards the top of the rankings or be a consistent force again, I still wouldn't write him off winning a slam or 2 yet if this goes ok. 31 (when he should return) is not old in this day and age, and there's no-one as hungry as him. Tweaking his schedule should benefit him too. A half-fit Murray has often limped to the latter stages of Slams before now

I guess if it goes well we'll see him play Queens, Wimbledon, Cincinatti, USO, Shanghai and Vienna perhaps, and then reconvene for next year. In theory he can have a good few years tennis in him yet

jr86

In an absolute bizarre move the AO had SHARAPOVA of all people carrying the women's trophy on to the court in Serena's absence, and then asked about her time away from the sport, as if she was on a nice holiday from the sport. Tennis!

Something tells me this won't go down well, even Ben Rothenberg is condemning it! PR disaster for them what on earth were they thinking?

Anyhow, the draw itself, Nadal pretty much has a bye to the last 8, fit or not. I don't see Cilic beating him in the last 8 either, which leaves a semi with... well, anyone - Dimitrov, Kyrgios, Tsonga, Sock - who can keep their nerve? But expect to see Nadal in the final if he's fit

Stan has entered anyway, but can't be fit. Djokovic and Zverev could be a 4th round with the winner playing Stan, Thiem or RBA (who is my pick out of the 3). Federer will get most likely Goffin or Delpo in the quarters - then Djokovic - then Nadal. It did look tougher on paper last year however

Looks wide open anyway. Hopefully Dimitrov or Kyrgios make the final from the top half. I'm going to tentatively side with a Djokovic, Nadal final though

dominatinMC

It would be great to see Dimitrov win it, he has all the weapons to do so. We could get a replay of last years AO semi-final if Nadal and Dimitrov make it through their quarters. Last years match was the best match of the year IMO, and I would not begrudge Dimitrov winning this time around (as long as he goes on to win the tournament). Saying all that, I can't overlook Djokovic at 6/1 on Paddy Power, great value, even considering his elbow issues. If that elbow holds up for the 2 weeks, who knows how far he could go. It's his favourite slam, and I'm sure he's eager to prove that's he's not on the decline just yet!

All things considered, it should be an interesting slam, the AO has turned into my favourite slam of the year, been some epic matches in the last 6/7 years (who can forget Nadal-Djokovic in 2012 and Nadal-Verdasco in 2009), always a few surprises, and generally a good atmosphere down there.

yerwanthere123

Thread here.

yerwanthere123

Alex de Minaur has started the season incredibly, made the Brisbane SF's last week and will play his first ATP final in a few hours in Sydney. Not bad for an 18 year old!

yerwanthere123

Kerber seems to be back, already won more titles in her first official tournament of 2018 than she did for the entirety of 2017. Beat some real quality opposition to do it as well, a big contender for the Australian Open.

De Minaur lost the final in Brisbane and Delpo lost the Auckland final to Bautista Agut.

yerwanthere123

Azarenka update. If she'd talked about moving Leo to Belarus previously then it's no wonder the father went to the court and declared her a flight risk. Quite sad that she'll probably be allowed to take the child away to Belarus, and if he did the same he'd be prevented, but that's the way it is unfortunately.

According to Tennis Forum and some Twitter rumours the next host for the WTA finals will be Shenzhen. And not for 3 years, not 5 years, but apparently 10 years. So much for Manchester or Prague then. I mean I know money talks, but surely someone at the WTA should've stepped in and tried to do what's best for the game instead. Sad if true.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Azarenka update. If she'd talked about moving Leo to Belarus previously then it's no wonder the father went to the court and declared her a flight risk. Quite sad that she'll probably be allowed to take the child away to Belarus, and if he did the same he'd be prevented, but that's the way it is unfortunately.

Nonsense. They were based in Belarus after the baby was born. She wasn't moving him anywhere. Plus she would never be based in Belarus long term anyway due to travelling so much, and she offered previously to cover his costs anytime he wanted to travel with them and spend time with the baby. And she's said she wants a custody arrangement that keeps this guy in the babies life. He has derailed her career for nearly a year now by dragging it through courts that have no business dealing with it, and have said as much now. If I were her I'd sue him for loss of earnings and make him beg for access to the child, but she's obviously a bigger person than I am.

Also his brother was posting some horrible stuff about her on social media too.

yerwanthere123

^ How polite.

They were based in Belarus after he was born, but after that he was primarily in the US, California is Azarenka's permanent residence and obviously the father is American. I highly doubt Belarus was ever going to be the child's permanent residence, it seems this was only decided once they'd split.

Not sure on what basis Azarenka could sure for "loss of earnings". She wasn't being held hostage in California, she just wasn't permitted to leave the state with Leo. As I understand it, neither was he (although open to correction on that). She didn't have to shut down her career, she chose to. There was nothing to stop her continuing her career, she just wasn't allowed take Leo with her. Honourably, she decided she didn't want to leave him, but at the end of the day it was her choice. Why should he have to go weeks/months without seeing his child to facilitate his ex's career? I know she'd offered hotel costs for when she wanted to play the US Open, but it's unclear beyond that what was offered. Obviously, as the relationship had broken down, and there was clearly a lot of bad blood, he's hardly going to want to travel across the country to accommodate his ex is he?

And no, I don't think he should have to "beg" for anything. He's the child's father, he has a right to see his child. Father's having access to their child isn't something the mother chooses to bestow upon a father, it's their parental right. He went to the courts because their relationship broke down and was obviously scared that Vika would take off with the child, and he's now basically been proven right, as Vika plans to move the child to Belarus "as soon as possible", according to that article. Not defending his friends and families behaviour, they don't come across like nice people, but I just hate the way men are treated in family law cases, they're almost always second class citizens.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Not sure on what basis Azarenka could sure for "loss of earnings". She wasn't being held hostage in California, she just wasn't permitted to leave the state with Leo. As I understand it, neither was he (although open to correction on that). She didn't have to shut down her career, she chose to. There was nothing to stop her continuing her career, she just wasn't allowed take Leo with her. Honourably, she decided she didn't want to leave him, but at the end of the day it was her choice. Why should he have to go weeks/months without seeing his child to facilitate his ex's career? I know she'd offered hotel costs for when she wanted to play the US Open, but it's unclear beyond that what was offered. Obviously, as the relationship had broken down, and there was clearly a lot of bad blood, he's hardly going to want to travel across the country to accommodate his ex is he?

She was as good as being held hostage. How would it have looked in a custody case if she was willing to just leave the baby behind for months on end? Also he was basically making her choose between her baby and her career for that entire time, which is not something anyone should be asked to do.

Look, at the end of the day this is none of our business and despite all the reports on it we'll probably never know all the details so probably best we just focus on the tennis side of it.

yerwanthere123

There's no "as good as" here. She wasn't being held hostage. She was free to go, but chose not to. Obviously, it wouldn't have looked good in a custody case if she did, so she chose to stay. I highly doubt she'd be in any way successful if she attempted to sue for loss of earnings. It's unfortunate that she had to put her career on hold, but no father should be faced with having their child taken to live in another continent, which is now going to happen. I think I know which one is worse. Also, wanting someone to have to "beg" for access to their child is a truly disgusting thing to say.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

There's no "as good as" here. She wasn't being held hostage. She was free to go, but chose not to. Obviously, it wouldn't have looked good in a custody case if she did, so she chose to stay. I highly doubt she'd be in any way successful if she attempted to sue for loss of earnings. It's unfortunate that she had to put her career on hold, but no father should be faced with having their child taken to live in another continent, which is now going to happen. I think I know which one is worse. Also, wanting someone to have to "beg" for access to their child is a truly disgusting thing to say.

I don't really want to get into this anymore than I have but if you can't see that his actions, through lawyers and the courts, made her playing tennis impossible then I don't know what to say.

yerwanthere123

Jesus. I'm not denying that going the legal route made her playing tennis more difficult. But there's a bigger picture here than Vika's tennis career. I think perhaps you need to question why he went the legal route. If I felt there was risk that my ex was going to leave the country with my child then I wouldn't hesitate to go to the courts. In fact, I'd expect anyone in that situation to go to the courts. But if you don't want to get into this any more then fair enough.

Well except for the fact that you're now ranting about me on Twitter

https://twitter.com/TheShiftyShadow/status/953433683192672257

https://twitter.com/TheShiftyShadow/status/953434185439596544

Not on the father's side, just trying to emphasise the fact that, well, father's have rights too.

Floppybits

Whats the story with James Mcgee? Is he injured?

yerwanthere123

Floppybits wrote: »

Whats the story with James Mcgee? Is he injured?

The official line is he's taking some time out of tennis, don't know much more beyond that.

Rob2D

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

The official line is he's taking some time out of tennis, don't know much more beyond that.

He may give it up at this stage. He's done a lot more than most guys from this country will ever be able to say. Making it to the main draw of a slam is a pretty nice thing to look back on.

TICKLE_ME_ELMO

Alizé Cornet could be in trouble, seems to have missed 3 drugs tests.

https://twitter.com/lequipe/status/956263001329426432

yerwanthere123

Perhaps she just didn't read her emails :pac: Interesting that she's blaming the ITF though, not sure that will work in her favour. Should be interesting to see how it pans out anyway.

Serena will be playing Fed Cup next month for the USA, probably just testing the waters to see how fit she is.