2021 In Between Grand Slam Thread

Even before Federer returned, most/all of us were thinking it was very ambitious/optimistic at his age and given the nature of the operation.

Getting to the quarter finals of Wimbledon and the fourth round of the FO wasn't that bad a return given his lack of match practice.

I think if he can make the 2nd week of the US Open he should be happy with that and call it a day.

Apparently she has been told to play more conservatively and constructively*. She's always had a great record against top players for someone with a much lower ranking, implying her ranking ought to be a good deal higher. That's 3 wins over Pliskova in the last 2 months or so. I'm not sure what was the deal with all the lipstick though.

*Whether she can play as well against someone who really varies the play a lot is another matter.

Be great to see Federer back

I reckon Federer had planned to retire in 2020, he was probably hoping to win Wimbledon 2020 and have a tilt at the Olympic singles Gold which eluded him throughout his career. If he had had a good Wimbledon and had won the Gold I think he'd have retired, he may even have retired if he'd beaten Djokovic at Wimbledon 19. Then in early 2020 the knee injuries hit and Covid came along, which actually gave him a chance to recover from his knee injuries, that clearly hasn't worked out and he's now back to square one, but, a year and a half older, knees crocked, an unsatisfactory end to Wimbledon for him and not able to even play the Olympics. Even though he's had a brilliant career he still probably feels theirs some unfinished business and can't admit that his career is over.

I think he should retire now, as he will never again be competitive at the top level, but, he has also earned the right to call time on his career whenever he likes, as have both Nadal and Djokovic.

Had he won Wimbledon 2019 or 2020 (if it had gone ahead) or the Olympics 2020 ( had it gone ahead in 2020), he'd have been retiring at the top, on a high similar to how Sampras won the US Open and retired, it doesn't get better than that, winning your last Slam, last match of your career and none of your rivals ever having the opportunity to beat you again, instead he's stuck in a situation where he's no longer able to compete at the top level and when he is able to play is struggling against or losing to fairly average players, not exactly the dream finish to a career.

I know that, I was just saying it was probably his original plan to retire in 2020, he was probably hoping to win Wimbledon or Olympics or at least go close to doing that as he did with Wimbledon 2019 to finish on a high, then the knee injuries and Covid came along to upset those plans and he tried to comeback this year, probably more in hope than anything else, but, as we saw he was no where near competitive as his body is no longer able for top level tennis and is only going to decline further. Time waits for no man.

I guess if you take Djokovic out of the equation then Wimbledon is the most open of the slams currently given Medvedev and particularly Tsitsipas haven't shown much of a liking for grass thus far. I'd imagine Nadal will go all in for the French again and won't show too much of an interest in the grass court season. If Federer does play next year I'd imagine it will just be as a farewell though, if he made the quarters again he'd have to be happy with that. That's his call. I think he's earned the right to go out this way if he wants, it shouldn't diminish what he's achieved.

Tbh I think press conferences before or after most sports events are a waste of time, very little of value gets said, fine in the latter stages of major tournaments ( across all sports), but, a bit pointless in small, unimportant tournaments.

The primary focus of a tennis player should be their tennis. These days media has to be done and while I'd have sympathy for some players who don't like doing media, it's part of the job and has to be done, but, players can't complain about doing media on the one hand and then going on social media to promote their brand, you can't have it both ways. Osaka could easily have nipped this in the bud by doing the bare minimum media work like a lot of players do, but, instead she threw a hissy fit and has made a rod for her own back now, drawing attention to herself and now every bit of media she does is scrutinised.