2019 In Between Grand Slam Thread

yerwanthere123

Qualies start tomorrow so time to get the thread going.

The WTA start with tournaments in Brisbane, Shenzhen and Auckland, whilst the ATP start in Brisbane, Doha and Pune.

2019 WTA Tour

2019 ATP Tour

yerwanthere123

My one and only hope for the ATP is to have a new grand slam champion, maybe even two. For the WTA I'd like Serena to beat Margaret Court's 'record' and then retire to never be heard of again.

RosyLily

Delpo out of Australian Open. Still recovering from injury. Is there a more unlucky player?

yerwanthere123

RosyLily wrote: »

Delpo out of Australian Open. Still recovering from injury. Is there a more unlucky player?

Nishikori? :pac:
He'd certainly give him a run for his money

RosyLily

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Nishikori? :pac:
He'd certainly give him a run for his money

Touche!!:D They could compare notes.

Floppybits

Good to see Murray and Wawrinka back on court.

yerwanthere123

I don't think Andy Murray has much of a future left in the game, unfortunately. He's saying he's still in pain and was emotional on court the last day whilst admitting he didn't know how much longer he'd able to play. He just lost to Medvedev too, so I don't think it's looking good.

Bubblegummers

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

I don't think Andy Murray has much of a future left in the game, unfortunately. He's saying he's still in pain and was emotional on court the last day whilst admitting he didn't know how much longer he'd able to play. He just lost to Medvedev too, so I don't think it's looking good.

In all fairness Medi on Hardcourt after a spell out isn’t an easy run. I believe Andy will play on but will take time to see him grind back to anyway near his past.

Rob2D

Yeah Medvedev played a blinder.

If Murray really is in a lot of pain all the time then I can't see him continuing much longer. His style really wouldn't allow for it. It'll only get worse and worse.

Bubblegummers

Rob2D wrote: »

Yeah Medvedev played a blinder.

If Murray really is in a lot of pain all the time then I can't see him continuing much longer. His style really wouldn't allow for it. It'll only get worse and worse.

He said he was starting to feel fresher on tennis TV so hopefully he improves be an awful shame to see his career dwindle to nothing.

yerwanthere123

Been lots going on the first week of the season. Sabalenka has taken up where she left off, wins the title in Shenzhen, her third in six months and on the cusp of the top ten. Should be dangerous in Melbourne.

18 year-old Canadian qualifier has made the final of Auckland, beating Wozniacki, Venus and Hsieh along the way. Will play Gorges in the final.

Osaka started well in Brisbane but lost her SF to Tsurenko, and has subsequently apologised on Instagram for her terrible attitude during the match. She's now withdrawn from Sydney so unless she's injured it's all a bit odd.

On the ATP side, pleased to see Berdych has made the final of Doha in his first tournament since Queens last year. He'll play Bautista-Agut who managed to take out Djokovic in the SF's.

Medvedev - Nishikori final in Brisbane, whilst in Pune Karolvic and Anderson will contest the talest ever ATP final! Karlovic is also the oldest ATP finalist since 1977. Might we expect a few aces? :pac:

Bubblegummers

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Been lots going on the first week of the season. Sabalenka has taken up where she left off, wins the title in Shenzhen, her third in six months and on the cusp of the top ten. Should be dangerous in Melbourne.

18 year-old Canadian qualifier has made the final of Auckland, beating Wozniacki, Venus and Hsieh along the way. Will play Gorges in the final.

Osaka started well in Brisbane but lost her SF to Tsurenko, and has subsequently apologised on Instagram for her terrible attitude during the match. She's now withdrawn from Sydney so unless she's injured it's all a bit odd.

On the ATP side, pleased to see Berdych has made the final of Doha in his first tournament since Queens last year. He'll play Bautista-Agut who managed to take out Djokovic in the SF's.

Medvedev - Nishikori final in Brisbane, whilst in Pune Karolvic and Anderson will contest the talest ever ATP final! Karlovic is also the oldest ATP finalist since 1977. Might we expect a few aces? :pac:

Only 57 aces in the 3 sets is that all hahah.
Brilliant match paid special attention as I’d a bet on over games ha sailed in tie break heaven.

Floppybits

Sad to see Lisicki beaten in the qualifiers.

yerwanthere123

The way Lisicki's career crashed and burned has been really quite something. Now I know she's been injured, but to go from a Wimbledon finalist to utter irrelevance is quite a dramatic fall. Hasn't done much on the tour since 2015, and barely played the last two years at all.

jr86

Laura Robson too. I know she wasn't exactly making slam finals but when she went on the US Open and Wimbledon runs when she was only 18/19 (with a mixed silver at Olympics) I thought she was a certain future slam winner and that tennis had a brand new extremely marketable star in the making who would become one of the faces of the WTA

She's currently ranked 490 in the world, deary me. Would she even make a half-decent living from it anymore? That said I do recall her doing punditry at Wimbledon

Floppybits

jr86 wrote: »

Laura Robson too. I know she wasn't exactly making slam finals but when she went on the US Open and Wimbledon runs when she was only 18/19 (with a mixed silver at Olympics) I thought she was a certain future slam winner and that tennis had a brand new extremely marketable star in the making who would become one of the faces of the WTA

She's currently ranked 490 in the world, deary me. Would she even make a half-decent living from it anymore? That said I do recall her doing punditry at Wimbledon

She is doing more punditry according to her twitter feed, does a bit for BTsports. Hard to know whether she has retired or not but she doesn't seem to be playing much tennis.

yerwanthere123

Laura had more surgery just a few months ago, so it'll be a while before she's match fit at any level again, though she's entered an upcoming ITF tournament iirc. Still though, it is remarkable how little progress she made after her comeback from the initial surgery, and this was even with considerable help from the LTA in terms of wildcards/draws etc.

Johnmb

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Laura had more surgery just a few months ago, so it'll be a while before she's match fit at any level again, though she's entered an upcoming ITF tournament iirc. Still though, it is remarkable how little progress she made after her comeback from the initial surgery, and this was even with considerable help from the LTA in terms of wildcards/draws etc.

Did she not end up a little like DelPotro? In that every time she came back, she picked up another injury shortly afterwards? I seem to recall her constantly being injured for quite a while after she first tried to come back.

josip

Not every day you see this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lb74_Z66xq0
Lucky Kyrgios didn't have another meltdown.

yerwanthere123

I imagine that was only allowed because it was an exho, I don't think two balls are allowed on the court at the same time.

Rob2D

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

I don't think two balls are allowed on the court at the same time.

Not since the old days, no.

Some of the old guys in my club still serve with 2 balls.

Floppybits

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

I imagine that was only allowed because it was an exho, I don't think two balls are allowed on the court at the same time.

You are allowed a ball on the court but not in play but if during a rally the ball on the court is hit then you will lose the point if you dont return it.

If a ball comes on the court from another then you just restart the point. Sometimes this annoys me because you will hit a winner and a ball comes on and the opponent will call ball on court. Head wrecking

Johnmb

Floppybits wrote: »

You are allowed a ball on the court but not in play but if during a rally the ball on the court is hit then you will lose the point if you dont return it.

If a ball comes on the court from another then you just restart the point. Sometimes this annoys me because you will hit a winner and a ball comes on and the opponent will call ball on court. Head wrecking

A ball coming on court can be called as a let, but is subject to all the other conditions of a let. i.e. if it's not called immediately, you can't call it later in the rally, and if a clear winner was hit, then a let cannot be called as it had no impact on the outcome of the point.

Floppybits

The draw has been made for the Australian Open, Murray is up against Bautista-Agut, I can't see him winning that there are reports that he struggled through a practice game with Djokovic the other day. I wouldn't be surprised if he pulls out. Federer plays Istomin that could be a potential banana skin for Federer if he is not on his game. Nadal plays Jack Duckworth, hard to call this one since Nadal hasn't played, would expect Nadal to come through but he could be there for taking if Duckworth has the balls to go for it. Edmund plays Berdych which will be an interesting one. Djokovic plays a qualifier in the first round and then could potentially play Tsonga in the second round.

Raonic vs Kyrgios will be very interesting.

dominatinMC

Floppybits wrote: »

The draw has been made for the Australian Open, Murray is up against Bautista-Agut, I can't see him winning that there are reports that he struggled through a practice game with Djokovic the other day. I wouldn't be surprised if he pulls out. Federer plays Istomin that could be a potential banana skin for Federer if he is not on his game. Nadal plays Jack Duckworth, hard to call this one since Nadal hasn't played, would expect Nadal to come through but he could be there for taking if Duckworth has the balls to go for it. Edmund plays Berdych which will be an interesting one. Djokovic plays a qualifier in the first round and then could potentially play Tsonga in the second round.

A Coronation Street fan, I assume?!:D He's playing James Duckworth in R1.

Was reading online about the Murray-Djokovic practice match, and he was brutal by all accounts. Badly hampered in his movement. I don't want to write him off, but I would be surprised if he makes it past Bautista-Agut who is playing great stuff at the moment.

All in all, the draw seems well balanced, with plenty of potentially good matches in the opening rounds.

Floppybits

dominatinMC wrote: »

A Coronation Street fan, I assume?!:D He's playing James Duckworth in R1.

Was reading online about the Murray-Djokovic practice match, and he was brutal by all accounts. Badly hampered in his movement. I don't want to write him off, but I would be surprised if he makes it past Bautista-Agut who is playing great stuff at the moment.

All in all, the draw seems well balanced, with plenty of potentially good matches in the opening rounds.

Oops don't know why I typed Jack.

I like Murray but I cant see him playing much longer. I have a feeling that he is going to call it quits very soon.

dominatinMC

Floppybits wrote: »

Oops don't know why I typed Jack.

I like Murray but I cant see him playing much longer. I have a feeling that he is going to call it quits very soon.

I agree, I think this could be his last year on tour, barring a miraculous recovery. I don't want to write his epitaph just yet, but making it to Wimbledon would be a fitting swansong.

Floppybits

dominatinMC wrote: »

I agree, I think this could be his last year on tour, barring a miraculous recovery. I don't want to write his epitaph just yet, but making it to Wimbledon would be a fitting swansong.

I can't see him making it that far, infact I can see him making a decision depending on how he does in Australia. At the moment I cant even see him making his first round match and if he doesn't make it, he could call it a day.

Bubblegummers

Floppybits wrote: »

The draw has been made for the Australian Open, Murray is up against Bautista-Agut, I can't see him winning that there are reports that he struggled through a practice game with Djokovic the other day. I wouldn't be surprised if he pulls out. Federer plays Istomin that could be a potential banana skin for Federer if he is not on his game. Nadal plays Jack Duckworth, hard to call this one since Nadal hasn't played, would expect Nadal to come through but he could be there for taking if Duckworth has the balls to go for it. Edmund plays Berdych which will be an interesting one. Djokovic plays a qualifier in the first round and then could potentially play Tsonga in the second round.

Raonic vs Kyrgios will be very interesting.

Fed will destroy isto, Edmund to bear Berdych will be most likely I think.

Bubblegummers

Watching millman simon game here it’s quite a good standard for Millmans usual carryon.

jr86

Murray will give it the season anyway I'd say, I don't see him retiring just yet

he's only 31, I'd imagine he'll give himself every chance to get back into some sort of form and consistency. It's such a young age to pack it in these days, he may feel he can get away with a reduced schedule for a few years yet unless his hip is completely goosed

Bubblegummers

jr86 wrote: »

Murray will give it the season anyway I'd say, I don't see him retiring just yet

he's only 31, I'd imagine he'll give himself every chance to get back into some sort of form and consistency. It's such a young age to pack it in these days, he may feel he can get away with a reduced schedule for a few years yet unless his hip is completely goosed

His hip is completely goosed mate. He’s playing with an injection at the moment.

jr86

Well he mustn't agree himself, otherwise why would he even be down practicing in Melbourne and have entered and played in a warm up tournament?

Playing with injections, pain killers etc wouldn't be at all unusual for sports people

Retirement is an extremely fatal decision, 31 is very young to pack in the game altogether. He may semi-retire of sorts and only handpick some events but he clearly feels he's got something left in him to still have gone through a pre-season and present himself for the events he entered in January. I still think Murray will be an active player for a time yet, he can still rely on wildcards for as long as he wants. He'll be long enough retired

Bubblegummers

jr86 wrote: »

Well he mustn't agree himself, otherwise why would he even be down practicing in Melbourne and have entered and played in a warm up tournament?

Playing with injections, pain killers etc wouldn't be at all unusual for sports people

Retirement is an extremely fatal decision, 31 is very young to pack in the game altogether. He may semi-retire of sorts and only handpick some events but he clearly feels he's got something left in him to still have gone through a pre-season and present himself for the events he entered in January. I still think Murray will be an active player for a time yet, he can still rely on wildcards for as long as he wants. He'll be long enough retired

Are you a tennis fan? Murray is openly telling interviewers (Tennis TV 4th January 2019) he needs a dramatic improvement. He got an implant last year on his connector, this has been replaced already. It’s grave for Andy look at him play last week 4 MTos in 1 match.

jr86

Bubblegummers wrote: »

Are you a tennis fan?

Not in the slightest, I must have came across this place by accident..!

Anyhow its just my own 2c lets leave it there, in reality its all conjecture on everyone's part

Floppybits

jr86 wrote: »

Not in the slightest, I must have came across this place by accident..!

Anyhow its just my own 2c lets leave it there, in reality its all conjecture on everyone's part

I think he is going to see how it goes in Australia and depending on that result will determine his decision. If he goes well then yep I would agree with you he will give it the year and probably skip the Clay court part of the season but if it goes bad in Australia such as having to pull out or losing badly in the first round I can see him retiring.

At the moment with what has gone on I can't see him carrying on much longer if the hip is still a problem especially after surgery and nearly a year out recovering.

Bubblegummers

Floppybits wrote: »

I think he is going to see how it goes in Australia and depending on that result will determine his decision. If he goes well then yep I would agree with you he will give it the year and probably skip the Clay court part of the season but if it goes bad in Australia such as having to pull out or losing badly in the first round I can see him retiring.

At the moment with what has gone on I can't see him carrying on much longer if the hip is still a problem especially after surgery and nearly a year out recovering.

Clay will kill him, if anything he will completely skip Clay swing - Favourable Aussie Open or not. That surface will absolutely rip him to shreads with a poor hip.

Rob2D

I reckon he'll hang in there and make a big effort at Wimbledon, with the outcome of that being the decider.

But the outlook is pretty bleak. He's a pusher and you can't grind out points from the back of court with a bad hip. Just no way.

Bubblegummers

Rob2D wrote: »

I reckon he'll hang in there and make a big effort at Wimbledon, with the outcome of that being the decider.

But the outlook is pretty bleak. He's a pusher and you can't grind out points from the back of court with a bad hip. Just no way.

Yeah for sure pushing takes a lot of work and a lot of long rallies pulling UE from opponent he won’t be able for that now. He won’t play at Wimbledon if he is anyway below 95%

Bubblegummers

Surprised to hear some of the names that were arrested in the match fixing in Spain today

yerwanthere123

So yeah, Andy's career is ending soon. Maybe as soon as the Australian Open.

https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/1083519540133150721

https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/1083520126719221760

https://twitter.com/AustralianOpen/status/1083521391620542464

yerwanthere123

https://twitter.com/josemorgado/status/1083528212678930432

jr86

Bubblegummers wrote: »

Are you a tennis fan? Murray is openly telling interviewers (Tennis TV 4th January 2019) he needs a dramatic improvement. He got an implant last year on his connector, this has been replaced already. It’s grave for Andy look at him play last week 4 MTos in 1 match.

Well called! And floppybits

Floppybits

Sad to read about Murray. I think he knew this last year when he broke down after winning a match in the US when he came back. Think it was Washington.

Unfortunately his style of play wouldn't be the best for a person with a bad hip.

Bubblegummers

I’m not a Murray fan but felt sad reading this- watching players like feli Lopez and Karlovic play to touching 40 and then seeing Andy having to walk away quite young.

Murray service was always suspect and could see against Medvedev how bad the hip affected his service even more.
Sad day for tennis, although I knew it was fast approaching.

rob316

Sad ending, incredible career. To win grand slams and become no.1 ranked in an era of Rodger, Nadal and Novak is hugely impressive.

Rob2D

2 gold singles medals as well. Nobody else has that, man or woman.

if this is it for Murray he can hold his head high - great returner and smart player.
matured over the years from displaying petulance to a guy that mostly was someone you could get behind (not being from UK).
maybe a pity that he didn't get the right coach from a mental perspective earlier - could have won some of those GS finals (5 Australian open finals alone without a win)

yerwanthere123

The news about Andy is terribly sad. I hear so much about how the players are in pain that I almost take it for granted, but reading Andy put it like that... wow. Tbh I'd rather he didn't put himself through it and just retired now.

I'd never have thought he'd be the first to go of the big four. When he won his first two slams I thought that with Nadal's injuries and Federer's age that he'd be around longer than them and he'd be able to sneak a couple of slams when they retire. How quickly things can change. Like others, I often wonder if chasing the #1 at the end of 2016 tipped the scales on his body, but I guess we'll never fully know.

Bubblegummers

glasso wrote: »

if this is it for Murray he can hold his head high - great returner and smart player.
matured over the years from displaying petulance to a guy that mostly was someone you could get behind (not being from UK).
maybe a pity that he didn't get the right coach from a mental perspective earlier - could have won some of those GS finals (5 Australian open finals alone without a win)

He was tidy under Ivan Lendl.

Bubblegummers

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

The news about Andy is terribly sad. I hear so much about how the players are in pain that I almost take it for granted, but reading Andy put it like that... wow. Tbh I'd rather he didn't put himself through it and just retired now.

I'd never have thought he'd be the first to go of the big four. When he won his first two slams I thought that with Nadal's injuries and Federer's age that he'd be around longer than them and he'd be able to sneak a couple of slams when they retire. How quickly things can change. Like others, I often wonder if chasing the #1 at the end of 2016 tipped the scales on his body, but I guess we'll never fully know.

I listened to an interview with him a week ago and he said in 2015 he fell it was first time he felt the striking pain in his hip. And he said he never could get past that pain as it always crept into his games to the point of BO5 games were torture.