2023 In Between Grand Slam Thread

gmisk

I know Norrie is limited but Cerundolo just blew him away...he could be a tricky opponent at the French open

yerwanthere123

French Open thread here.

gmisk

Nice to see Murray making another challenger final in Surbiton. He could still be a very tricky opponent for most people at Wimbledon as things stand.

gmisk

Murray has won in Surbiton, his first grass title since Wimbledon in 2016

gmisk

Murray in another Challenger final in Nottingham, that's 9 wins in a row, ok it isn't at ATP but still! Nice to see.

gmisk

Murray wins in Nottingham 6-4,6-4 didn't drop a set in the tournament, back into top 40 a win or two at queens and he should be seeded for Wimbledon.

yerwanthere123

Anett Kontaveit is retiring after Wimbledon due to a chronic back injury. Sad how brutal the sport has become, and one of the reasons we'll probably be waiting a long time to ever see someone get into the 10/15+ slams category again.

yerwanthere123

Great to see Alcaraz winning Queens, a fantastic way to bounce back from the disappointment of RG. Still too much of an unknown factor on grass to be labelled a contender at Wimbledon, but matches are what he needed above all else and he got five of them plus the title this week.

Sakkari suffered her 22nd career SF loss in Berlin to Vekic. Surely time to part ways with her coach now, this is a long running problem that needs fixing. She'll be 28 next month, not on the young side of the game any more, but still young enough to turn things around. Although I just saw she's apparently got Mark Philippoussis on board for Wimbledon, so maybe he'll make a difference.

Kvitova and Ostapenko winners in Berlin and Eastbourne respectively, but I don't hold out much hope of either going far at Wimbledon. Bublik beat Rublev in Halle to win his second career title.

Here's a stat about Halle for you

https://twitter.com/BastienFachan/status/1672966174848557057?t=4zuNc9GRPEampjRtGI5NgQ&s=19

😬

josip

Tsitsipas didn't defend his title in Mallorca, beaten in his first match.

Is Mallorca not a bit south and hot for a grass court? Or is the grass court swing the only part of the calendar they were able to find a free slot?

yerwanthere123

In somewhat bizarre news, Caroline Wozniacki has announced a return to the tour. Aiming to return for the US Open series, will be interesting to see how this works out.

I'm thinking it'll go badly and she'll retire in a huff some time after the Australian Open... but maybe she'll prove me wrong!

Girly Gal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120783564#Comment_120783564

She struggled to win a slam in her prime, so hard to see her doing it after a 3 year break, if she did, it would undermine the current crop of players.

Rikand

Maybe she's short a few pound

poppy37

It’s very strange news, it’s definitely not for financial reasons, she still has plenty of sponsors and her husband had a very successful pro basketball career and is from a very wealthy background.

I guess she thinks she can still compete at a high level and she won’t lack fitness unlike Kim Clijsters whose last comeback was a disaster. I just think there are too many power players now and her speed around the court which was one of her main attributes won’t be as strong and efficient after three years out.

Nevertheless I wish her well and hope it doesn’t contribute to a deterioration of her health problems, rheumatoid arthritis is an incurable condition and from what I recall she had it pretty bad before she retired.

In other news Simona Halep was supposed to have had her long awaited doping hearing in the past day or so with a lot of speculation that she will be handed down a two year ban which if it came to pass would efficiently end her career.

yerwanthere123

Wimbledon thread here

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058303406/wimbledon-2023

josip

Whatever about sneaking another Grand Slam title, I can't see Djokovic ever reclaiming #1 from Alcaraz and adding to his 389 weeks total.

https://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/66286236

Royale with Cheese

I just saw the US Open is on Sky Sports this year. It looks like Amazon are pulling the plug on their tennis coverage at the end of the year too.

dublin49

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120947154#Comment_120947154

thats a bummer as Amazon covered every match which was great.Good match at 10pm tonite ,new break out player Talon Greikspoor playing Dan Evans,

Greikspoor going for third victory ,although hes 27 this is the first year I have noticed his name.

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120947154#Comment_120947154

Yeah it's a real shame Amazon are dropping the tennis, there's no way Sky will be able to rival their comprehensive coverage. Musn't have been bringing in the numbers for Amazon that they were hoping for. Feels kinda nostalgic that it's going back to Sky, they covered the US Open when I first started watching tennis, but there's no way in hell I'll be subscribing.

Girly Gal

The quality of the men's game has gone down over the last few years, no real rival for Djokovic in that period until Alcaraz this season, plus covid affecting a few seasons. Interest in the game has gone down from its peak 6/7/8 years ago. Just a few factors which probably impacted the uptake on Amazon's tennis coverage.

dublin49

So Federers gone,Nadal almost,and Djock is becoming Majors only ,the mens game is more interesting than its been since pre big 3/4.Anyone in the draw even qualifiers can win which I think is great.

yerwanthere123

Not nice to see Sakkari crying during the Washington trophy ceremony. Don't think this week does anything for her confidence unfortunately, gets over the semi final hurdle only to worsen her finals record. Now 1-7 in finals and has lost six in a row, losing this one to a player she lead 4-1 in the h2h.

Girly Gal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120947917#Comment_120947917

It might be more unpredictable, but, it's star power that gets the subscriptions, when that's missing, most of the audiences bar the die hards will turn off, that's the reality.

dublin49

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120949716#Comment_120949716

I am thinking new stars will emerge ,like 19 yo Arthur Fils ,Rune and Sinner should improve, but personally good riddance to the inexorable procession of the big 3 to all semi finals ,walloping Berdych,Gasquet ,Fognini ad nauseum ,with only the odd upset to prove the rule.

whiterebel

Philipoussis takes over head coach role for Tsitsipas. I wonder will this give him the push he needs to get over the line in slams.

Girly Gal

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120949786#Comment_120949786

The unpredictability is great, but, as they are not well known names, they don't entice people to pay Amazon to watch them, that's the reality

dublin49

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120953264#Comment_120953264

you are probably right ,like the Tiger Factor in golf ,I think viewing figures increased dramatically when he was playing,people tuning in to see him win his 91st or whatever tournament.Although I think that was more Federer and Nadal.I dont sense Djock has the same Star appeal or fan base.Anyways I will be happy to see newbees duelling it out in the coming years.

Floppybits

Some call last night by Fergus Murphy in the Tiafoe/Raonic match. How many even knew this rule existed?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbXWwxi9Wk4

yerwanthere123

Caroline Wozniacki about to get underway in Montreal against Kimberly Birrell. Will be interesting to see her level after 3.5 years out of the game and at 33 years of age.

yerwanthere123

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120953525#Comment_120953525

Yeah that was really interesting. I wasn't aware that rule existed either, I just assumed the net was the net.

I also can't say I've ever paid particular attention to the net size, or that they use a different size net for doubles. I mean, obviously they do, but can't say I ever actually noticed the difference.

Floppybits

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120953603#Comment_120953603

Always knew there was a different length of net for singles but didn't realise that there were different rules for the net. Most clubs wouldn't use those poles on the net either.