2021 In Between Grand Slam Thread

Rob2D wrote:

I hate the way Nike aren't sending out different sets to players. Have Sinner v Draper on in the background and whenever I look I can't tell who's who.

It's to help you to prepare for Wimbledon where they all look the same!

josip wrote: »

His $300m Uniqlo contract runs until 2028, does he have to continue playing according to that contract or just be the brand ambassador?

I doubt they expect him to play singles until 2028, he'll be 46 or 47, Covid probably pushed his retirement back a year or two, had Covid not came I'd say he'd have finished up last year, wants a final shot at Wimbledon and the Olympics, the fact that there won't be full crowds this year probably means he'll hang on for next year.
He could probably play doubles until 2028 alright and would be a massive draw. Nadal and Djokovic might even follow suit in a few years and continue fighting it out there, if that happened the doubles tour wouldn't know what hit it.

Wimbledon tickets are due to go on sale this week.
It looks like most of them will be sold online on Ticketmaster, there will be no queuing this year.
Handy for anyone in the Uk, a really good chance of getting tickets to it this year unlike normally.

https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/tickets/index.html

Tickets for The Championships 2021 will be made available via an online sale, which we anticipate commencing in mid-June. All tickets will be distributed via the official Wimbledon mobile Apps for iOS and Android.

There will be no Queue in operation this year, and the 2021 Qualifying Competition will be closed to the public.

Hector Savage wrote: »

Djokovic and Nadal would never pair up , they f*ckin hate each other !

I don't think that's the case at all. There seems to be a lot of animosity between Fed and Djokovic, but I've never seen any hostility between Nadal and Djoker.

The field at Queens has become so weak over the years. I remember back in the day a lot of the top players would play but Federer never had any interest (presumably contracted to Halle), Nadal and Djokovic i think played maybe twice ever and the last time they played each other there was in 2008 from memory. I suppose it is only a 500 event so no real incentive to play in it. A friend of mine went a couple of years ago and said the field was very poor

Slashermcguirk wrote: »

The field at Queens has become so weak over the years. I remember back in the day a lot of the top players would play but Federer never had any interest (presumably contracted to Halle), Nadal and Djokovic i think played maybe twice ever and the last time they played each other there was in 2008 from memory. I suppose it is only a 500 event so no real incentive to play in it. A friend of mine went a couple of years ago and said the field was very poor

The FO being pushed by a week hasn't helped this year. But perhaps the real reason is that, with all surfaces playing somewhat more similar recently, players don't feel the need for a proper 'tune up' anymore.

yes the tournament has gone downhill particularly in the past decade. The top players are just not drawn to it, Halle would often have the better field in recent years. Its interesting that Djokovic so rarely plays a warm up event for Wimbledon but has won it 5 times. Even Nadal back when he was doing better at Wimbledon often skipped the warm up events.

I think players are probably just gassed after the clay season and particularly the players who go deep at the French open. You look at Halle this week though, much stronger field than Queens:

Federer, Medvedev, Zverev, Rublev, Khachanov, Nishikori, Bautista Agut, Monfils, Felix Alliasime, Goffin.

Queens is like Murray, Berritini, Shapovalov and then a bunch of much lower ranked players

klr87 wrote: »

Well, that withdrawal definitely did not have the desired affect. FAA is very competent player on grass, IMHO better than the likes of Tsitsipas, Zverev and Medvedev, so this was never going to be easy. The one thing FAA can't seem to do is win a final: he's now 0/8 after losing to Cilic in Stuttgart last week.

Is two matches on grass enough match practice? Fed isn't the type to go entering a tournament at short notice the week before a slam, although these are unusual circumstances. I'm sure Eastbourne* would love to have him as a wild card next week, but on balance, I think it's quite unlikely. He'll probably play a couple of exhibition matches.

*Can't see him going to Nadal's back yard in Mallorca ...

Depending on the draw of course, but, I reckon Federer is unlikely to get to the second week if he meets anyone decent, he's too old now, plus being out for over a year at his age is massive, had he stayed fit and was playing regularly over the last year I'd have given him a decent shot at getting to the latter stages, but, very hard to see how he can be competitive at Wimbledon this year.

Wimbledon tickets go onsale tomorrow at 1pm for anyone interested.
Need to register by midnight tonight.

https://www.wimbledon.com/en_GB/tickets/index.html

An initial sale of tickets for the public will go live on this page at 1pm on Thursday 17 June, and you must be registered with myWIMBLEDON by midnight BST on Wednesday 16 June in order to access the ticketing platform for the initial sale. Further details on these ticket sales will be published shortly.