2023 In Between Grand Slam Thread

gmisk

Norrie played very well against Rublev won comfortably enough in two sets.

yerwanthere123

Cracking QF lineups for both the men's and women's draw. Potential for a Swiatek-Rybakina rematch in the SF's, with Sabalenka possibly playing the winner in the final.

Great on the men's side too, potential for an Alcaraz-Medvedev final, although an Alcaraz-Sinner match in the SF's is one I'd have my eye on. That's a rivalry that's ripening nicely I feel.

yerwanthere123

Good match between Sinner and Alcaraz last night, although it kinda sums up Sinner's problem. Whilst he's a very well-rounded player, he doesn't have that one killer weapon that can truly hurt the very best players. Although to be fair to him Alcaraz upped his game massively in the second set. Shame the final with Medvedev is on at 11 tonight our time.

Really looking forward to the women's final, rematch of the Australian Open final between Rybakina and Sabalenka. Feels like Rybakina needs to win it more, she's just 3-8 in finals so far.

yerwanthere123

Soo happy for Alcaraz. I think we were all a little worried when he had to end his breakout season prematurely, but two titles in three tournaments on his return shuts the door on any doubt. He's very firmly back. 19 years old, world #1, a grand slam title, three masters and eight titles overall. Wow.

Good women's final earlier, delighted Rybakina finally got that elusive win over Sabalenka. The second biggest title of her career so far, and she actually gets points for it this time!

Regardless of what the rankings say, I think it's pretty clear right now that Swiatek, Sabalenka and Rybakina are the top three players in the world right now.

yerwanthere123

In somewhat bizarre news, Del Potro is giving training another go with the hope of playing the US Open

https://twitter.com/Tennis_Majors/status/1640064388974493696?t=Qk7eAkN62YRY3r0gyZNtow&s=19

poppy37

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120404549#Comment_120404549

Absolutely loved the guy but this does not sound like a good idea, hope I’m proved wrong though.

He seems lost since he retired and probably doesn’t have the financial backup he should have had and maybe that is behind this decision.

whiterebel

He's probably seeing how weak the current top 20 are. At 35, he's younger than Stan who is getting a few wins, and about the same as Murray, ND and RN. Maybe the 12 months off the tour has helped his wrists. He certainly seemed very broken up when he signed off first time.

yerwanthere123

Wimbledon ban on Russians and Belarusians rescinded.

https://twitter.com/tumcarayol/status/1641758006135201792?t=l-NQPlyhn9xROZLEW4hEEw&s=19

Good news, should never have happened in the first place.

Jack Daw

I like Swiatek she's a great player but she's becoming increasingly annoying and irrational over the Urkaine war issue. Punishing individual athletes because of what their government does is not right and the ATP and WTA have done the right thing by allowing the players from Russia and Belarus to play and Wimbledon have eventually done the right thing this year.

https://sports.yahoo.com/tennis-missed-chance-ban-russians-092540123.html

In other news Muguruza has taken a break from the game which is sad as a few years ago it looked like she was going to maybe win 7 or 8 majors and be the dominte player but she just seems to have lost interest which sadly happens too often with top players in the womens game.

https://news.yahoo.com/garbine-muguruza-former-wimbledon-champion-094853274.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

Girly Gal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120451134#Comment_120451134

It's a pity about Garbine, thought she would win a few more slams. I think the financial rewards are so great now, that players who win a slam or two are financially secure for life, add in all the constant scrutiny on social media and its easy to see why players fall out of love with the game, once they are financially secure, if they get to a point where they are no longer enjoying it, they probably don't see any reason to continue playing.

yerwanthere123

Muguruza says she'll be coming back for the North American hard court swing, but I honestly wouldn't be surprised if this is a preface for retirement. As Girly Gal says above, the prize money these days is obscene, and players can become multi-millionaires after winning two or three tournaments. If you're already living an extremely comfortable lifestyle then the dedication to the grind of the tour must inevitably fade somewhat. I mean Barty earned 3.5 million for winning the WTA finals, absolutely ridiculous.

Royale with Cheese

I just watched Zverev serve for the match in both the 2nd and 3rd sets before having two match points in the deciding tiebreaker, one of them on his own serve, and still getting beat by Medvedev.

dublin49

Although a lifelong fan of Tennis since Nastase was around I only went to my first tournament today in Monte Carlo.Watched Sinner who was terrible but somehow scrapped through,Tsitspas was boring and Djock match was great.Djock really cant help himself ,he just needs to be hated.Threw match away but Musetti played well.We were knackered by then and watched Zverez match on lap Top. back in hotel.Yeah a good day out and some shots like the sliced shots are amazing to see live but overall its a long day and Amazon Prime does the job for me.On Wed we heard there would be a rail strike ,and 4 hrs rain today so we got lucky there were trains from Nice and weather was fine until 3rd set of Djocks match.

dominatinMC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120475475#Comment_120475475

Sounds like a great experience. In a similar position to you, lifelong tennis fan, but never been to any big event. Monte Carlo is definitely on my bucket list though, must be up there with Rome as the most iconic/beautiful ATP venue.

dublin49

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120476047#Comment_120476047

highly recommend this trip with the obvious weather caveat to be accepted.We are getting on now and physically its a lot tougher than going to Football match especially when you walk the 3 kms to stadium from train station,there is a station nearer venue but was closed.Rome sounds great and imagine fans would be more involved which was pretty tame yesterday.

Royale with Cheese

I did Madrid a few years ago, it's not in a particularly pretty part of the city but was easy enough to get an Airbnb in between the city centre and the venue. We just walked about 30 minutes from our accommodation. The main stadium is a decent size so should be handy for getting tickets too.

I would also guess it should have the best lineup of the clay court season outside of Roland Garros. Sometimes players who go deep in Madrid skip Rome in order to have a break before Roland Garros, and you see players skip Monte Carlo if they're coming out of the US tournaments in March carrying any kind of a niggle.

I saw Tsitsipas beat Nadal in the semis, tickets were still available for the other semi the day before and would have bought some if Federer had managed to beat Thiem, but lost in a third set tie break. Would have been Djokovic - Federer, I never got to see him play in the end 😥

yerwanthere123

Very happy to see Rublev win his first masters. He may not have the flashiest game, but he's a solid, consistent force on the tour who's more than good enough to be a masters champion. Also seems a pretty decent guy too, so good on him.

dominatinMC

Also delighted to see Rublev win yesterday. He's been knocking on the door a while now and I feel that a M1000 is long overdue for him. Although I get the feeling that's his ceiling, it will be interesting to see the confidence this title gives him going forward.

lbunnae

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120486340#Comment_120486340

Think one of the commentators was saying they hope this win could get him by a grand slam quarter , I'd love him to win one but I reckon your right and top 10/ maybe another 1 or 2 masters is his ceiling.

yerwanthere123

Nadal out of Madrid. Roland Garros must be looking a bit shaky now?

josip

Lajovic obviously didn't read the script in Banja Luka.

yerwanthere123

Two consecutive early defeats for Djokovic. Doesn't mean a thing imo, the ship will be righted for Roland Garros.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120485610#Comment_120485610

Yeah, but he's Russian and a piece of walking propaganda. In the current barbaric circumstances I refuse to take any interest in sports where Russians or their mates in Belarus are participating. It's shameful.

dominatinMC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120505283#Comment_120505283

I can only hope this is an attempt at sarcasm

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120506054#Comment_120506054

Was wondering the same?! Didn't respond because I wasn't sure.

Furze99

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120506054#Comment_120506054

Absolutely not I can assure you.

dominatinMC

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120506837#Comment_120506837

Head over to the politics thread so, thanks.

yerwanthere123

Djokovic out of Madrid now too, didnt specify a reason but must be injured. Would be interesting to see a Roland Garros without Djokovic or Nadal actually.

dublin49

the stadium in Madrid is awful on TV,whoever put the premium boxes nearest the court did not consider tv coverage.Good crowd at Rune v Fokina match tonite and practically no fans visible as all the boxes are empty.Great match ,both Fokina and Rune are fun to watch.

Floppybits

Alcaraz all over Zverev in this match. Disappointing from Zverev.