#davis cup 2022

[yoyowr]

[juancarlosferrero]

[sinnerista]

Lorenzo Musetti

Davis Cup Malaga 2022

[mousemannation]

u know.. in the end LC22 was kind of rafas send off too

[zingaplanet]

hi, i adore your blog so much. <3. what are your thoughts on the state of fedal in 2024, especially as we approach (cries) rafa's retirement at davis cup?

Ergh I missed this one sorry! Although this might be prime timing considering what just happened during the retirement. I've been wanting to be as candid on this as possible for a long time and voice what all of their fans are thinking but I'm afraid I might cause quite some pain. So forgive me lovely tennisblr, here are just my two cents:

If you ask me what their relationship is like now, I've got to say I have no idea and I think that's a v telling answer. Fed retired end of 2022 and has been busy doing insane sponsor stuff for the whole year. He still showed up at tennis stuff (e.g., for Andy at Wimbledon, etc) but we can never tell how much engagement he actually has with the players anymore. Hence, even though he mentions Rafa a lot more often than others, I think we need to take it with a grain of salt here because the media sharks are simply pouncing on every opportunity to get a story from this too.

One thing I am quite sad about tho, is how everything after the mega publicised retirement ceremony seems to be a bit too PR-stunty. I get it, the rivalry was a big thing in the tennis world but with that photo going viral and winning all sorts of awards, being used in motivational sports speeches etc - it kinda transcends tennis now. Federer and Nadal have both always been bigger than tennis, but perhaps now that they are getting the attention together, it's getting a bit much.

When they mentioned each other throughout interview snippets all year, only sometimes do we get to see what's going on behind the scenes. Other times, from my perspective, it feels sadly like they have been media briefed after the whole whirlwind about how to make this as positive a press for them as possible without revealing too much. On this, I have to say, Federer is still a maestro - I have never seen an athlete with as much PR talent as him. I work a lot in comms and he is a simple branding wet dream, he says all the right words you want to hear, the same message in many different versions of sentences, but never actually reveals what's going on. Rafa used to be much more of a trainwreck early in his career but he has improved so much with age. He still sometimes, fascinatingly, slipped up tho, and seemingly only during Spanish interviews, when he's a lot more honest. In several of the Spanish tv and radio interviews he did this year, he seemed to hint that on the one hand, Federer is the only one he still speaks to regularly in tennis, but on the other hand, he gives a strange indication that they're not as close as they used to be?

I think it's quite predictable though. After Federer retired, they were now freer to build on the friendship without any of the rivalry hurdles - but at the same time, I think they didn't realise how much the intensity of the rivalry played such a central part in what made "them" special. It's such a push-pull enemies-friends delicate line they've been mastering how to tread all these years. It could be difficult to find footing now that tennis no longer binds them, and their initial obvious differences (you know, the "calm Swiss maestro - passionate Spanish fighter" kinda narrative) begin to show again. I don't necessarily think this means they can't connect without tennis ever again, it's just a bit like your school friends. When you graduate, you no longer have that connection of going to class together or hanging out during recess - but the truest bonds always survived, and after a few rough years, your good friends are still there.

If I'm honest, I think they are at the point where they're a bit unsure what to do with one another but might be forced to play a bit of a part as the media has lumped them "the eternal rivals turned friends fairytale". I honestly feel like the media and public interests might have made it a bit awkward between them. You can see a little bit in their PR stuff - Rafa namedropping Fed a little and sometimes a bit tired when he constantly got asked about Federer in his post-match pressers recently, and Roger doing stuff like the letter. The letter is v generous, heartwarming, and such a loving tribute - and I have no doubt he wrote it himself but it's a v public thing that would've and could've landed better just being delivered in person directly? Or perhaps in a speech for him. But the whole social media stuff seems a bit fishy.

Of course we all don't know what he did or didn't do privately, the same goes to whether this is all really true or they are both just v busy dealing with a big change in their lives (Fed newly retired doing a gazillion sponsor stuff and travelling the world, Rafa dealing with a career ending injury and retirement) - they might simply not have the headspace --or even want-- the other to be such a significant part of their lives at the moment, as these two new things they are experiencing are something uniquely theirs.

The retirement ceremony is a whole other story I could write lots of paragraphs about (don't encourage me!). But I think if we learn something this year, I think it's that athletes unequivocally deserve personal space, and we should never meddle with their personal lives too much.

For the first time in their lives, they will now be fully retired, out of the limelight, able to enjoy all the things we take for granted (like travelling anonymously! or trying out restaurants in new cities)! It's what they deserved after giving us 20+ years of blood, sweat, emotion, and passion on the court and in the limelight. They both owe us nothing. I think if they both disappeared from the spotlight next year (albeit unlikely) or decided to just grow their friendship in private and never appear publicly together again - that is completely their right. We can only show them support and thank them for all the amazing things they did to make our childhood and our lives so wonderful.

[butterflyintochains]

ATP Big Three Statistics

In Honour of the ending of this golden era of men's tennis, just a little rundown of just how much these three men have achieved in the last 20 or so years.

Roger Federer

20 Grand Slam titles (6 Australian/1 French/8 Wimbledon/5 US)

1 Olympic Gold in Doubles (Beijing w/ Stan Wawrinka)

28 ATP Masters 1000 Titles

6 ATP Finals Titles.

310 Weeks as Number One.

237 Consecutive weeks as Number One.

5 times Year end Number One.

Career Grand Slam

103 Career Titles

2014 Davis Cup Champion with Switzerland

3 Consecutive years spent as wire-to-wire World Number One.

54 Big Titles

Rafael Nadal

22 Grand Slam Titles (2 Australian/14 French/2 Wimbledon/4 US)

1 Olympic Gold in Singles (Beijing)

1 Olympic Gold in Doubles (Rio w/ Marc Lopez)

36 ATP Masters 1000 Titles.

4 Davis Cups with Team Spain

Career Golden Slam

Double Career Grand Slam

First to win 10 titles at one Slam.

209 Weeks as Number One.

5 times Year End Number One.

19 Consecutive seasons with a title (2004-2022)

912 Consecutive weeks in the ATP Top 10.

59 Big Titles.

92 Career Titles.

Novak Djokovic

24 Grand Slam Titles (10 Australian/3 French/7 Wimbledon/4 US)

1 Olympic Gold in Singles (Paris)

40 ATP Masters Titles

7 ATP Finals Titles

2010 Davis Cup with Team Serbia.

Elite Titles Sweep

Career Super Slam

Triple Career Grand Slam

Double Career Golden Masters

428 Weeks as Number One.

8 time Year end Number One

Most Ranking points in history (16,950)

Non-Calendar Year Grand Slam

7 or more titles at two slam tournaments.

72 Big Titles.

Most match wins as World Number One (485)

13 Years ranked as Number One (2011-2024)

99 Career Titles.

Thank you for showing us what great tennis can be, gents! 🐐🐐🐐

[ekleiipsis]

tagged by @daisies-on-a-cup !! <33

if you have a to be read list/pile (comics, books, whatever):

what title(s) are you currently reading?

Les Misèrables by Victor Hugo, Trauma and Recovery: The Aftermath of Violence by Judith Herman, The Vampire Lestat by Anne Rice, Are Prisons Obsolete? by Angela Davis, Sway: The Irresistible Pull of Irrational Behavior by Ori Brafman, AND Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi.

i’m usually strict with myself when it comes to completing books before moving on to the next one so i have no idea what happened in 2024…i’m very close to finishing The Vampire Lestat, Are Prisons Obsolete?, and Reading Lolita in Tehran so i’ll most likely focus on those before i allow myself to start a new book</3

what are some title(s) up next on your reading list?

• The Iliad by Homer

• The Odyssey by Homer

• House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewiski

• The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell

• When We Cease to Understand the World by Benjamin Labatut

• Marcel Proust’s In Search of Lost Time series

• Man’s Search For Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl

• stealing kat’s answer i would also like to read Dostoevsky’s works and just about every other “classic” because i have embarrassingly not read a majority of them…

• comics wise i plan to read some lois lane and/or some other gl stuff (i’m thinking either hal jordan or john stewart). i haven’t read manga in awhile but i DO want to finish Berserk because i reallyyyy enjoyed what i did read which was the arc a little after farnese joins? but that was wayyyy back in 2022 (?) soooo.

what title(s) are your emotional support TBRs and you’re planning to get around to them. One day. When the stars align?

the greek tragedies😔 LISTEN. i’ve been planning to read them for so long but every time the thought arises i neverrrr have the time to and i really want to take my time with them, but i can see it happening soon‼️

have you taken anything out of your TBR pile recently, and why

hm i don’t think so. unless you count september of 2024 recent

tagging @scorchedhearth @vivisection-gf @hineinihineini @innocentartery @tsaricides and @eyeballplanets

[rolandkaros]

not pitting sincaraz against each other just pointing out an objective truth that jannik was not a dominate player/potential grand slam winner last season (age 21/22) and carlos will finish this season semi-dominant and with two more grand slams (+ an olympic medal) (age 20/21). you can see how quickly a player's career can turn around within one season. so any talk about carlos being washed/playing badly sounds silly to me i can't lie. yes carlos wasn't as successful this year as last year. yes carlos wasn't as successful this year as jannik. last year jannik's highlights were throwing up in a trash can and beating djoko in davis cup (exaggerating.) so i really feel like carlos's struggles this season are slightly overinflated. we talk about "he has time he has time" let's be clear not only does he have time in his career (he is literally 21) he also has time on his closest current rival (age-wise, carlos's 2024 season is jannik's 2022 season). it will be two years before carlos is even the same age as jannik is now. so like. lets be chill here u know.

[kevjrr]

Neybappe - their journey up till now

They met in 2017.

Neymar helps Kylian relax before the latter’s first game for psg.

Kylian celebrates his first goal for psg with Neymar on 07.09.17.

They grew closer and closer,

2017-2018

Neymar celebrates his goal for Psg in Champions League Group C match against Liverpool with Kylian.

Kylian and Neymar watched Psg vs St. Etienne match on 14.09.18 together.

Neymar, Kylian and Davi attended Psg vs Toulouse match together on 24.11.18

met a few obstacles along the way, but nothing they couldn’t overcome.

2019

Kylian attends Neymar’s birthday party.

Neymar and kylian attend Cindy Bruna’s birthday party together.

Neymar and Kylian watched Psg vs Real Madrid match on 18.09.19 together.

They were inseparable. Joined at the hip,

2020-2022

Neymar and Kylian do their signature handshake after the former scores a goal during the Psg vs Montpelier match on 02.02.20.

Neymar and kylian celebrating the winning goal against Atlanta during the UEFA Champions League quarterfinal match.

Kylian hugs Neymar after Champions League match between Psg and BVB, on 11.03.20.

Kylian was forced off in the first half of the French Cup final match, Psg vs St Etienne on 25.07.20 because he got injured. At the end of the game, he returned to the pitch on crutches. Neymar was waiting there for him and was one of the first to give him a hug.

Kylian comforted Neymar after he got injured in a match in February, 2021. The latter was down as there was a possibility that he would miss the first leg of the champions League against Barcelona.

Neymar’s reaction to Kylian’s hat trick against Barcelona on 17.02.21.

Neymar hugging Kylian after Psg vs St. Etienne match on 18.04.21 (in which Neymar didn’t play because he was suspended)

Neymar and Kylian gossiping during the Psg vs Real Madrid match on 15.02.22.

Neymar celebrates with Kylian after scoring a hat-trick during the Clermont vs Psg match on 09.04.22.

until they weren’t.

Psg vs Montpellier, 13.08.22.

Liking of tweets, 14.08.22. // Neymar not answering a question about his relationship with Kylian was after the Brazil vs Ghana match on 23.09.22. // An elaborate explanation of what happened from @neykyl << check this out before jumping to conclusions please!

However, none of these were enough to completely end their friendship.

2023

Kylian jumps on Neymar during Psg vs Pays de Cassel match on 23.01.23.

Kylian and Neymar during training.

Kylian remained by Neymar’s side and helped him after the latter suffered from an ankle injury on 19.02.23.

Their story is not over yet.

2023

Credit to @holdmyhopeinyourhands for the 3rd gif // credit to @griezsg for the 1st gif & 2nd gif

[leonsliga]

At the request of the wonderful @realmadrider, here’s some of my comfort footy vids 😁 happy watching!

All things DFB and Bundesliga:

Bayern Summer Games 2022 (especially the Guess the Song challenge)

Agility Challenge • Kimmich vs. Goretzka (AKA Kimetzka being an old married couple for nearly 7 minutes)

Wer kennt mehr? Leon Goretzka & Joshua Kimmich

Stadt, Land, Fußball - Thomas Müller and Leon Goretzka

Thomats Challenge: Bundesliga Edition

The big FC Bayern quiz with Manuel Neuer and Sven Ulreich

Google Autocomplete Challenge with Serge Gnabry and Leon Goretzka

Servus, Leon Goretzka!

Leon Goretzka vs. Julian Brandt: Buzzwire Challenge

Bundesliga Stars Try to Draw Their Team Logos - Witsel, Goretzka, and Co.

Mats Hummels vs. Thomas Müller: Me or Him Challenge

Pro vs. Pro:Direct with Thomas Müller

Read My Lips: 🇩🇪 vs. 🇫🇷

Close-Up with Leon Goretzka

60 Seconds Challenge: 🇩🇪🆚🇫🇷

Neuer, Müller, and Lahm making fun of Kramer’s memory loss during the 2014 World Cup final

One gotta go with Marco Reus and Julian Brandt

Manuel Neuer and Bastian Schweinsteiger dancing on the beach

Don’t get distracted! With Julian Brandt and Marco Reus

Müller & Co. Decorating the Christmas Tree

Hummels & Brandt: Which of You…

FC Bayern Teammate Insights

Neuer, Martínez, and Hernández Carpool Q&A

EURO Taxi with Thomas Müller and Mats Hummels

Manuel Neuer vs. Thomas Müller

New Season, New Berni ft. Müller, Neuer, Sané, and Davies

So feiern die Bayern das Triple

Neuer, Piszczek & Co. Try to Draw - Who is the Best Artist

Take it easy | BVB-Challenge with Marco Reus and Julian Brandt

Kimmich vs. Gnabry | Copy the Penalty Challenge

Chunkz vs. Neuer | YouTuber vs. Pro Keeper Penalty Shoot Out Challenge

Manuel Neuer im Interview

Who am I? BVB-Challenge with Mats Hummels and Marcel Schmelzer

Manu lifting up a jar of Nutella like it’s Simba

DFB Nutella Commercial

Will Grigg’s on fire! Is Mats Hummels terrified?

Bayern Summer Games 2021

Thomats Christmas Challenge

Serge Gnabry: Unlocked feat. Yung Filly

Who knows more? Marco Reus vs. Mario Götze - 2018 edition

Who knows more? Marco Reus vs. Mario Götze - 2019 revenge

Netradio Newcomer with Marco Reus and Julian Brandt

Best of Radio Müller

Thomats dieses Mal olympisch - eng subs

Don’t get distracted! With Mats Hummels and Marcel Schmelzer

Cow-Milking and Welly-Throwing | Team-Building Fun at FC Bayern

Shell Game w/ Manuel Neuer

Pantomime w/ Manuel Neuer

Drawing w/ Manuel Neuer

Marco Reus vs. Mats Hummels - Buzz Wire Challenge

Manuel Neuer reveals the results of his doping test (spoiler alert: it was urine)

Thomats Basketball Challenge

Thomas Müller “JAAA” compilation

A Spanish Lesson for Neuer with Thiago - Repeat after Me Challenge

Fußball-Dart: Goretzka gegen Burgstaller

You Have to Answer - Marco Reus

Bayern Team Photo Vlog

Who knows more 2.0: Brandt vs. Hummels

Thomats Tangram Challenge

FC Bayern wish you a Merry Christmas

Mario Götze’s Most Famous Picture

Mats Hummels pranks Gio Reyna

DFB Water Polo Teambuilding

Erling Haaland being a funny guy for 3 minutes straight

Bromance: Manuel Neuer & Leon Goretzka

Manuel Neuer, Per Mertesacke, & Arne Friedrich - Sky ad

Neustädter vs. Reus

Literally anything else:

50 most shocking moments of the 2010 World Cup

Jose Mourinho explains football to a baffled Ted Lasso

Timo Werner being the funniest German for 2 minutes (because he’s an adorable bean)

Lingard and Rashford | Roommates

Ney…freezin innit

Wingmen: Bruno Fernandes and Jesse Lingard

Manchester United x Stone Roses

I am Jose Mourinho 😎

Sergio Ramos drops the Supercopa under the bus

Marcelo, Bale, Ramos, & Co. joking around on a plane because why not

Lies | Toni Kroos & David Alaba

Kroos & Modrić | Teammates

Toni Kroos’s fantastic interview after RMA beat Liverpool in the UCL final

Luka Modrić taunting Gerard Piqué like the girlboss he is

Real Madrid x NFL with a heavy dose of Modramos

Roy Keane’s angriest moments discussing Manchester United - very validating as a United fan in the modern era tbh 😭

THE Kunessi stream - eng subs (55 minutes in all its glory)

When Kun met Leo

Kun calling Leo on stream

Sergio Agüero interviews Lionel Messi

Honestly every episode of the Champions

[cartererarchive]

The Swiss Davis Cup team (2002)

Peter Carter was the 'director' of the Swiss Davis Cup team for a short time in 2002. At the behest of Roger, he replaced the unpopular Jakob Hlasek, with whom Roger did not personally get along. After various disagreements and a souring team environment, Roger said he would no longer compete for the Davis Cup team while Hlasek was still around. Having almost brought them a victory over France in 2001 from 2-0 down (they would lose to France 3-2), Swiss Tennis were obliged to try and keep Federer onside. Federer was appeased and brought back to the team with the promise of Peter Carter as director - he could not be given the title of Captain, as he did not have Swiss citizenship.

The Master, Clarey (2022)

More from Rene Stauffer:

Roger Federer: Quest For Perfection, Rene Stauffer (2007)

[ggitty]

(JN anon) Jimmy and Sheen actually had concession cup versions of half those flavors: Green with Jimmy, Red and Orange for Sheen. Red I think I saw the least; one kid was surrounded by the Green ones. (They actually had the entire movie free on Youtube last month, along Barnyard and some other selected movies.)

Oh yeah, I think the Jet Fusion game had some too. A few of the show's storyboards and production reels were posted to Youtube. (If you heard of Paul Claerhout, who along with Acorn are responsible for the character designs, he has a site where he posted some concept art from Johnny Quasar to Planet Sheen.) For added fun, there's a few JN anniversary VA panels uploaded if you want hear more on what it was like behind the scenes.

It's kinda funny how it sounded, based on the title, that the initial premise was just Planet Sheen, but with Carl and not a show.

Heh, I think mine's was Pokemon. And Looney Tunes.

*nods* New people are expected in older properties, but they gotta have the guidance to keep the image consistent. (I get wanting differentiate though, not always easy. As we've seen with FOP)

According to Acorn on the "karereviews" site, Davis wasn't as involved after the first season because of production with the Ant Bully. Season 1 did feel a bit more down-to-earth compared to 2 and 3. (But yeah, Davis talked about his current field in an interview just last year; it's on Youtube along with a few others he did. There's was one from 2022 where talked about his time with the series and did seem confused as to why a JN reboot failed to go through given the current climate of entertainment [and video games], and how much the fandom has been wanting it for years.)

Sounds like you had quite an eventful day. xD (I already knew about NFL Slimetime having Nick/Paramount characters appearing since they did this type of thing before. I had JUST learnt about Jimmy appearing literally a few days before the date on a repost. Thought it was like, someone's fake wishlist at first until I traced it back to Paramount. xD Boy genius just can't stop winning.)

Lol, if they start suddenly re-airing old episodes or have Jimmy appear in one of those crossover Paramount commercials like Arnold and Dora did under the mask of "we just felt like it", I'd be thoroughly convinced they're in denial. :P

Ah that's good to know! *looks at the movie I downloaded and put in a JN folder*

Oh yeah, I saw Paul's website when I was looking for some concept-art stuff! There were also sketches for the UltraLord spin-off if I'm not mistaken (lore drop indeed lol)

In some universe, we have Planet Carl and probably a shit ton of memes from it I don't even know if it's a win or a loss lol

(oh, the downfall of FOP was hard, painful and dragged on like a bad slapstick joke ")

(and damn I should have watched that interview when I found it before I lost it somewhere in an accidentally deleted tabs folder)

''A WIN IS A WIN'' so to speak lol

Ah yes, “we just felt like it” which translates to “we are testing the waters and teasing the appearance of these franchises in the future, but it's not certain and you haven't seen anything!” hbabhbasd BTW, absolutely random Johnny Quasar render that was found on Unix Window Manager and posted on reddit lol

(runs away from the intergalactic police because he drives a rocket without a license at the age of 10)

[muirneach]

canada wins davis cup 2022 -> canada wins bjk cup 2023. italy wins davis cup 2023 -> italy wins bjk cup 2024. hmmmm

[alacants]

in the space of 12 months jannik sinner happened. but i can't get into that or this post will REALLY get out of control. <- wait im new to tennisblr/this gen of tennis players (tho not to tennis, dormant fan ig) and i'd love to hear your take if u feel like elaborating!

oh hey welcome back to tennis!! idk how much exploration you've done so bear with me if i'm just telling you stuff you know. (and jannikblr sorry in advance for the abbreviated summary, i can't do 1200 words every time.) (edit: you'll never guess what happened next.)

the very brief recap is that jannik's tennis trajectory started out relatively normally compared to where he is now—he grabbed everyone's attention winning the 2019 nextgen finals, got a lot of hype, but then had ups and downs for the next few years. won some titles but got a reputation for flopping in big tournaments, for example the wimbledon 2022 qf where he was up two sets to love over novak and still lost. meanwhile carlos alcaraz, who apparently burst onto the scene fully formed, won the us open at 19 and wimbledon at 20. (and all the while was talking up jannik as his major rival. ok.) so the early narrative was that sinner was yet another victim of expectations who was failing to live up to the hype.

then in early 2022 he split with his long-time coach. took a while to adjust to his new team (his current coaches, cahill & vagnozzi) but by the end of 2023 he started to get results. and kept getting them, and kept getting them, until he won his first slam (ao 24), his second slam (uso 24), and went 73-6 for the entirety of 2024. he is now arguably the best player on tour, and inarguably the best player on hard court. and everyone compares him to novak.

(this is not necessarily a compliment.)

actual novak has lost three matches to jannik on the bounce, all on hard court. once again: end of 2023 was the turning point. jannik lost to novak 6-3 6-3 in the tour finals final—then literally the next week they met in the davis cup sf. jannik saved three third set match points, took the match (on the way to italy's first davis cup in 47 years), and has not lost to novak since. that includes the 2024 australian open, where jannik beat novak in four sets and handed him his first ao semifinal defeat ever. ever. 

this run of matches culminated with the shanghai 2024 final, where jannik beat novak in straight sets without breaking a sweat while roger and carlos watched from the box. like. ok we get it! thanks for the symbolism!

(as a side note, that match had me convinced novak was on the verge of retirement because he just did not seem to care, like, at all. sure, another final. whatever. well he certainly figured out how to solve that problem!)

so all of this—the 12 month meteoric rise—is going on in the background while carlos and novak are facing off at wimbledon, at the olympics, and finally at ao again. the very same australian open where jannik says he thinks djokovic/alcaraz is the best rivalry in tennis right now.

so the question is, why IS djokovic/alcaraz a rivalry in a way that djokovic/sinner is not, and why has novak embraced carlos with so much more enthusiasm than jannik. is it because right now the rivalry is so one-sided. (yikes but true.) is it because the comparisons rub novak the wrong way and he does not think he plays tennis like that actually. is it because he just likes other people persons more. (the historical record does not seem to bear this out.) is it because it's intensely frustrating to see someone who plays like you, who like you didn't come up through the ranks with a silver tennis spoon in his mouth,  get the validation you didn't at that age and then not respond to it. like if roger : carlos :: novak : jannik then this is incredible reverse fedole, where the charismatic genius is like LET'S BE FRIENDS and the self-made machine responds with, tennis isn't about friends.

(aka MEANWHILE, THE SINCARAZ OF IT ALL, which i TRULY cannot even begin to recap. i assume you've picked this up elsewhere. if not. god. idek where to begin man.)

i don't have an answer for this lol. jannik is going to stay harder to beat for novak, at age 37, than carlos because more of novak's game is going to hinge on finding exploitable weaknesses and jannik has so few. especially psychologically. novak and jannik both have terrifying levels of mental control; that makes jannik pretty immune to a lot of the strategies novak (or anyone else) might use to try and get inside an opponent's head. ...at least on hard court. novak and jannik haven't played each other on clay since roland garros 2023 sf or on grass since wimbledon 2022 qf, so. i think that might be fun. :)

addendum #1: there is more than one hallway in the big 4 house of mirrors. as if i would get through this whole post without bringing up novandy, please! there is something in carlos' eagerness to put himself and jannik on a special level together, and jannik's hesitance to accept, versus how novak did start out with a peer who was supposed to be his rival-partner in overthrowing the established order at the top, and who now tries to remove himself from that discussion entirely. carlos singling out jannik as his special rival and novak talking up the big four while jannik is like, i love djokoraz! and andy captions photos "the big 3 + some clown."

addendum #2: WAIT late-breaking addition to this post, user @virtual-particle just described novak getting close to carlos as potentially a low-key power play on not just carlos himself but also jannik, a "steal your boyfriend special rival's attention" vibe. and i would like 6000 words of fanfiction about this on my desk by monday ok thanks!

[merionettes]

rubicon program references

due to the slow death of twitter i'm collecting my program links here. (almost) none of the rubicon skates are meant to be identical to real life programs, but some of the inspiration is pretty one-to-one… and some is a little less direct.

if you find yourself region blocked, try a free vpn - i recommend the veepn browser extension (firefox | chrome) or proton. 

if you only have so much time, i've starred the most important ones. if you want more… i have so many more.

chapter one

**tessa virtue/scott moir - mahler no. 5 (olympics 2010)

chapter two

tessa virtue/scott moir - carmen (worlds 2013)

kaitlyn weaver/andrew poje - the way you make me feel (canadian nationals 2017) | bonus worlds finish

chapter three

nadia bashynska/peter beaumont - romeo & juliet (gp espoo 2023)

maia shibutani/alex shibutani - smile (4cc 2011)

**michelle kwan - tosca (us nationals 2004) | music

chapter four

**meryl davis/charlie white - scheherazade (olympics 2014)

shizuka arakawa - turandot (olympics 2006)

**alexei yagudin - winter (olympics 2002)

chapter five

daisuke takahashi - blues for klook (worlds 2013)

mirai nagasu - pirates of the caribbean (olympics 2010)

chapter six

miki ando - the mission (4cc 2011)

meryl davis/charlie white - my fair lady (olympics 2014)

chapter seven

katarina witt - where have all the flowers gone (olympics 1994)

chapter eight

mao asada - bells of moscow (olympics 2010)

shoma uno - dancing on my own (internationaux de france 2019)

chapter nine & ten

mao asada - rachmaninov no. 2 (olympics 2014)

kazuki tomono - one more time (rostelecom cup 2018 gala)

tessa virtue/scott moir - what's love got to do with it (niagara ice show 2016)

yuna kim - les misérables (all that skate 2013)

ensemble - uptown funk (ice fantasia 2019)

chapter eleven

madison chock/evan bates - touch/contact (olympics 2022 team event)

chapter twelve

yuzuru hanyu - romeo and juliet (worlds 2012)

chapter thirteen

tatsuki machida - east of eden (worlds 2014)

johnny weir - the swan (olympics 2006)

kaitlin hawayek/jean-luc baker - feeling good (us nationals 2017)

tessa virtue/scott moir - prince medley (worlds 2017)

chapter fourteen

**jeremy abbott - lilies of the valley (olympics 2014)

nathan chen - le corsaire (us nationals 2017)

chapter fifteen

yuzuru hanyu - heaven and earth (olympics 2022)

denis ten - the artist (worlds 2013)

chapter sixteen & seventeen

ashley wagner - moulin rouge (us nationals 2015)

chapter eighteen

kaori sakamoto - elastic heart (worlds 2023)

shoma uno - dancing on my own (japan nationals 2019)

**adam rippon - arrival of the birds (olympics 2018)

chapter nineteen

michelle kwan - fields of gold (olympics 2002)

**tessa virtue/scott moir - moulin rouge (olympics 2018)

epilogue

tessa virtue/scott moir - long time running (olympics 2018 gala)

bonus 

the rippon lutz (quad edition)

stationary lift BASE?

f/f ice dance feat. madison hubbell and gabrielle papadakis

best of kpop in figure skating

fs dynamics 101

[mythicalpoolnoodle]

top 10 jannik matches

-@fritzes

OH LORD THIS IS HARD

1. AO final 2024, it just had everything (heart attack included!) And of course it was his maiden grand slam final

2. Davis cup semi final (singles) v Serbia 2023, those match point saves changed me

3. Davis cup semi final (doubles) v Serbia 2023, I still think about that really fast forehand jannik hit and also him and sonego just looked like they were having the time of their lives <3

4. ATP finals round Robin match v djokovic 2023, first time he beat djokovic and I celebrated so hard for a random Tuesday

5. USO 2022 quarter final v alcaraz, we all know this match, it is iconic in every sense of the word and even though jannik didn't win (which is really the theme throughout the rest of these) it's still incredible

6. Miami semi final 2023 v alcaraz, here we start with the sincaraz matches lol but thats okay, I will never forget you 4-2, 0-15 point and I will never forget you janniks reaction to winning that point

7. Vienna 2023 final v Medvedev, one of his first wins against Medvedev and this match was just incredible on both jannik and Medvedevs part and yknow he did win

8. Vienna semi final v rublev 2023, oh girl coming back from 2-5 down to win the set 7-5....burned into my brain

9. AO semi final 2024 v djokovic, I feel like these are kinda repetitive but I mean come on nearly straight setting djokovic and getting the first two sets 6-1, 6-2???? Sexy

10. Umag final 2022 v alcaraz, Umag you will always be famous to me (also why was that trophy so comically large???) Also the double breadstick was sexy as fuck

Sorry this was so long-winded and also not in any real order but I'd say these are probably my top 10? This was fun I liked going back through his matches