#taylor fritz wins his next two matches.

[oof-ouch-yikes-stripes]

One step closer to my vision being fulfilled

[fritzes]

the curse of ATP Madrid 2024

remember toronto's chaos? yeah this one's crazier

(shoutout @rodlaveraryna for helping me find the toronto post when I totally lost it)

first of all, the World #1 Novak Djokovic has withdrawn from the tournament, making the fairly new #2 Jannik Sinner the top seed at a Masters 1000 for the first time.

In the first round, Félix Auger-Aliassime (who, keep in mind, took Nadal to five sets at Roland Garros) loses the first set to Nishioka. However, he comes back in the second and third sets to win the match 4-6 6-1 6-4. We'll be seeing a lot of him. In a Next Gen battle, young phenomenon João Fonseca loses the first set to the clay incompetent Alex Michelsen but proceeds to bagel him in the second set and then win the third with 4-6 6-0 6-2. Fabian Marozsan (of beating Alcaraz in Rome fame) saves eleven set points against Karatsev to win the first set and goes on to win the match 7-6 7-6. Moutet and Shang play an almost four hour match in which Moutet caused a massive delay by demanding the umpire give him coffee. And, most insane of all, teenager Darwin Blanch is drawn against Rafael Nadal for his second tour match ever. The scoreline is 6-1 6-0 (at least he got a game!)

Second round - here come the seeds. Jakub Menšík, yet another Next Gen wonder, upsets Dimitrov in three intense sets 6-2 6-7 6-3. Félix bagels known clay flop Mannarino. Fonseca loses quite brutally to Norrie. The ultimate clay hater himself, Daniil Medvedev, loses the first set to Matteo Arnaldi and looks absolutely done but comes back to win 2-6 6-4 6-4. Another known clay hater, Alexander Bublik, jokes his way through a win against Carballés Baena, who was so frustrated that he hit a serve directly at Bublik. Ben Shelton bagels Machac. Rafa manages to beat de Minaur, who he just lost to in Barcelona. Stefanos Tsitsipas, fresh off of two clay finals, is beaten by qualifier Monteiro 6-4 6-4.

In the third round, our top seed Jannik Sinner starts to show sign of discomfort, and his opponent Kotov is serving for the second set after Jannik won the first. Kotov has set point... and hits a questionable underarm serve that Jannik crushes down the line. Jannik goes on to break back and win the match 6-2 7-5. In the beginning of a long line of strange occurrences, Félix's opponent Menšik retires in the second set. Daniil loses the first set to Korda, yells at everyone, accuses the umpire of working for the Illuminati, but comes back to win the match 5-7 7-6 6-3. Bublik, the other resident clay hater, beats Ben Shelton 3-6 7-6 6-4, stetting up a match against who but Daniil. Holger Rune, who made two clay masters finals, loses to Griekspoor 6-4 4-6 6-3.

We start off the fourth round with another shaky Jannik match where he barely gets past Khachanov 5-7 6-3 6-3. At the exact same time - I kid you not, the exact same time - is a rematch of last year’s final. Carlos Alcaraz has match points over Struff at the very same minute as Jannik, but loses all three of them and extends the match another half hour or so, eventually winning it 6-3 6-7 7-6. Daniil comfortably wins the clay hater battle 7-6 6-4, and Bublik seems perfectly fine with it. In a strange occurrence of two varying levels of servebots on clay, Taylor Fritz beats Hurkacz 7-6 6-4 (including a very predictable tiebreak). Perhaps the strangest of all, Félix takes out Casper Ruud, the man who would marry clay if he could, 6-4 7-5.

And now to the quarterfinals. Think these matches have predictable outcomes? Wrong! Only Taylor manages to emerge as the favorite who wins, beating Cerundolo 6-1 3-6 6-3, an American servebot into clay masters semis. Meanwhile, Jannik withdraws entirely, giving Félix yet another walkover. In what may be the calmest match of his career, Andrey Rublev beats Carlos 4-6 6-3 6-2, ending his Madrid title streak. And, Daniil retires against Jiri Lehecka.

So, the semifinals no one expected. Andrey dispatches Fritz 6-4 6-3 after they traded breaks in the opening two games. And Félix receives yet another walkover when Lehecka retires a few games into the match. Yes, he received not one, not two, but three walkovers en route to the final.

In the end, though, Andrey wins it and claims a second masters title. So, that’s the end of the story, right? No, because in his interviews afterwards, Andrey reveals that he has been extremely sick for the entirety of the tournament and that he could barely sleep or eat. A bizarre yet fitting end to this strange tournament.

[xtruss]

With Novak Djokovic, It Is Always a Struggle

In the U.S. Open final, against Daniil Medvedev, he battled and even seemed to tire before, as usual, emerging victorious.

�� By Louisa Thomas | September 11, 2023

US Open Aug 22–Sep 10, 2023! Novak Djokovic Celebrates Winning the Mens Singles Final on Sunday September 10, 2023, at the U.S. Open with arms raised and tennis racquet flying. Photograph by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images

It was a struggle. For Novak Djokovic, it is always a struggle. We know it is because he says it is. “I’m trying to enjoy the moments on the court, but there is so much stress and pressure going on that it’s hard to have fun, so to say, on the court,” he said after a straight-sets win over Taylor Fritz in the U.S. Open quarterfinals. On the eve of the tournament, he put it this way: “You’re trying to outplay or outsmart your opponent tactically, but then you have to fight with your own demons as well, the self-doubt, tension, all the things that are happening in the midst of such battle.” Stress and pressure, self-doubt and tension: the essential qualities of his flawless game, what he inflicts on others and on himself.

And so there he was, in the second set of the U.S. Open men’s singles final, hunched and grimacing. Pain imprinted crow’s-feet along his eyes. Djokovic is thirty-six years old. He was playing in his seventy-second Grand Slam. He had made the final in half of them. The last time he had played in New York, two years ago, he had also been making a bid for history, attempting to win the “calendar-year Slam”—all four majors in one year. The pressure had overwhelmed him then, he recently admitted, and he had lost, meekly, in three sets, to Daniil Medvedev. He tries not to make the same mistake twice. Still, there it was: the stress, the tension, the struggle.

Medvedev was across the net again. This was a surprise, perhaps even to Medvedev. In the semifinals, Medvedev had upset the defending champion, the wunderkind Carlos Alcaraz, playing the match of his life. (The Russian graded his performance as a “twelve out of ten.”) Alcaraz seems like the perfect rival for Djokovic—as if Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, and Djokovic himself had been reincarnated together in the form of one happy phenom. Medvedev is more perplexing. His six-foot-six-inch body has the strange quality of seeming stretched, yet he has an extraordinary ability to balance while bending low and remarkable control while contorting himself. And he can run. Instead of the quick, precise footwork of most top players, he takes long, ungainly strides; his legs gulp the ground. His shots, too, are unorthodox. He often hits his second serve with the aggression of a first. He holds his backhand like a shovel. His forehand has a flailing motion. His racquet sometimes seems to wobble when it strikes the ball, as if mishitting it. He prefers to settle into long rallies, sometimes perversely, and yet can invent angles anywhere on the court. Medvedev had actually beaten Djokovic the last time they played, earlier this year, in Dubai—Djokovic’s only loss on a hard court all year. But Medvedev knew, he said before the match, that that result was relevant only in that it gave Djokovic more information about how to adjust.

At the start of the match, Medvedev was terrible. He missed serves not by inches but by several feet—bad misses, not the misses of calculated aggression—and made baffling errors all over the court. Djokovic broke Medvedev’s serve in the second game of the match, and then, on his serve, he began to take Medvedev’s measure. Medvedev was returning from so far back that he sometimes disappeared out of view of the telecast. Djokovic’s strategy was immediately apparent: seize the court that Medvedev gifted him. In his second service game, he tried something the great baseliner does not normally do: he served and volleyed. It didn’t work; Medvedev passed him. On the next point, he did it again—this time with success. Djokovic would serve and volley twenty-two times in the match, and he won twenty of them.

Medvedev settled, but not at a level at which he could hurt Djokovic. He did what he likes to do, playing deep, extending rallies. Not many players can out-defend the greatest defensive player the sport has ever seen. Medvedev can, sometimes; he seemed to be trying to do it, though, all the time. Djokovic took the first set, and the match seemed headed for a boring conclusion: he was 72–1 at the U.S. Open when winning the first set.

But perhaps one moment gave Medvedev some hope. It came only twenty minutes into the match. The two players exchanged ground stroke after ground stroke, the pace of the ball accelerating as the point went on. Medvedev pulled Djokovic wide, then slung the ball down the line. Then back it came crosscourt again: shot after shot. Finally, Djokovic bailed out, hitting a backhand into the net, and stumbled. It was a thirty-six-ball rally. Djokovic recovered with a textbook second-serve serve and volley, stabbing a winner into the corner, and the moment seemed to pass—it was hardly the first time in his career that Djokovic showed fatigue. Still, there were more of those to come.

At three-three in the second set, it happened again: a thirty-one-shot rally. This time, Djokovic fell to the court from exhaustion. This time, he did not immediately bounce back. The points lengthened. Medvedev scrambled, stretched, bunted balls, swung the rallies from side to side, drew Djokovic in and pushed him back. Djokovic was gasping for air. He barely leaned for balls that he might have reached, and hurried to the net to shorten the points. He staggered after long rallies, did lunges after a double fault. Between games, he iced his head.

The set stretched on: past an hour, an hour and a half. Still, every time Medvedev might have gained an edge, Djokovic was there—taking advantage of Medvedev’s open court by serving and volleying, or otherwise pressing forward to win the crucial points. The critical moment came when Medvedev gained a set point with Djokovic serving at 5–6. Djokovic came to the net. The passing lane down the line was open, and the ball sat up for a clean strike. But, instead of going down the line, Medvedev went crosscourt, right to the spot where Djokovic was standing. Djokovic won the point to save the set, and, it seemed, the match. After that, the result never seemed in doubt. Having survived the gruelling set, Djokovic looked revived. The third set passed quickly, inevitably. He won the match in just over three hours, 6–3, 7–6 (5), 6–3.

For all the long points—an astonishing fifty-four of them were nine shots or more—the majority of points, as in most professional matches, were short, four shots or fewer. And, there, Djokovic had the clear edge, winning sixty-three to Medvedev’s fifty.

Somehow, there was something new: a facet to Djokovic’s game that he’d never exploited. There was a time when he had been a mediocre volleyer. In this match, he came to the net forty-four times and won thirty-seven of those points. It was the right tactic, the obvious tactic, playing Medvedev—and yet, even for the best, the obvious thing can be hard to pull off. After the match, Medvedev admitted that he was regretful. He knew he’d chosen the wrong shot on set point. He knew he’d been standing too far back while returning. He’d failed to adjust. “I was too stubborn,” he said.

Djokovic, too, is famously stubborn. (He might have already won twenty-six Grand Slams, had he not refused to be vaccinated for covid-19.) On the court, though, he fights it. He is flexible in body and mind; he adapts to circumstances. There is the struggle. Everything about him suggests that there is something uneasy deep within him: his military bearing, and the visible intensity in his hooded eyes. The honed contours of his body, free of any trace of fat. His flashes of anger and annoyance, and his grand shows of generosity. His complicated relationship to the public, the way that he yearns for love and admiration, and yet also “cocoons” himself, as he said during this tournament, or even seems to feed off their displeasure.

And why shouldn’t it be a struggle? He grew up in a place without a great tennis tradition. When he was eleven, growing up in Belgrade, Serbia, he spent seventy-eight nights sheltering from bombs. During the day, he’d practice on the remnants of tennis courts. (“We’d go to the site of the most recent attacks, figuring that if they bombed one place yesterday, they probably wouldn’t bomb it today,” he wrote in his book, “Serve to Win.”) When he was twelve, his uncle left him at a tennis academy in Munich. Surviving is what he does.

It can be uncomfortable, watching someone struggle with something essential about themselves. It is what makes Djokovic a more complicated figure than, say, Federer or Nadal. Federer never seemed to struggle with anything at all. By contrast, struggling comes easily for Nadal—it seems to be his essence, just as ease seems to be Federer’s. Djokovic is different. He began his career as a talented player who didn’t have the stamina—who had a game almost without weakness, but did not know how to manage the demons, the stress, in all the different ways that they manifest. It’s not enough to say that he figured it out. He has to figure it out every match.

Earlier in the tournament, in an on-court interview, the ESPN analyst Rennae Stubbs asked him who would win a match between the Djokovic of now and the Djokovic who dominated the game a decade ago. “Easy, easy, easy, no problems,” Djokovic answered with a smile. “Straight sets for me, for the thirty-six-year-old.”

Then he became reflective. “I don’t know, I don’t want to play myself,” he said. “But I do. Every single match. I play myself the most, in my head, in my mind. If I win this battle then I win the battle outside as well against the opponent.” This is his twenty-fourth Grand Slam, the most Grand Slam titles of any player in the Open era. ♦

[wrestlingwithhistory]

A Gentleman Never Tells - Chris Adams

Gentleman Chris Adams is a name that many people miss when they talk about wrestlers from the UK who not only did good business in the US during the 80’s but helped to train some of the biggest names in professional wrestling during the 90’s and helped to bring to light one of the most popular finishers in the industry today.

Chris Adams was born in Rugby, Warwickshire on 10th February 1955 and from a young age was involved in competitive Judo, which he continued training in exclusively for around 14 years which he earned a Black Belt in the discipline. Both he and his brother Neil competed in national and world championships, with Neil actually winning a silver medal in the 1980 and 1984 Olympics. Chris was a member of the 1976 Olympic team but never competed for Great Britain.

Chris Adams began taking part in Professional Wrestling in 1978. He had no formal training in wrestling and used his expertise in Judo in his early years of wrestling. He worked with Joint Promotions and appeared on ITV’s World of Sport regularly taking on the likes on Mark ‘Rollerball’ Rocco, Dynamite Kid, Fit Finlay, Adrian Street and Davey Boy Smith. His finishing move, originally called ‘the Judo Kick’ was later renamed a ‘Superkick’ and is still used by many professional wrestlers today.

By 1983, Adams was approached by Fritz Von Erich to work for World Class Championship Wrestling and he officially joined on 15th April, 1983. During his time with WCCW, he feuded with many of the company’s big stars, from The Von Erichs to Ric Flair, and the Fabulous Freebirds. He was tag partners with Gino Hernandez and became the second iteration of The Dynamic Duo in 1985, where one of their most notable matches was a hair match against the Von Erichs which The Duo lost and were shaved in front of a rapturous crowd.

Chris was due to go into a feud with Gino going into 1986. They had worked an angle against The Cosmic Cowboys, who were actually Kevin and Kerry Von Erich in disguise. The finish to the match was Adams being blinded by hair cream that was thrown by Hernandez, resulting in a loss against the Cowboys. Chris used this time in the storyline to go back to the UK and visit him family, but during that time, on 2nd February 1986, Gino Hernandez died of a Cocaine Overdose. Adams was questioned by Scotland Yard about Gino’s death as authorities in Texas originally treated the incident as a homicide, but this was later changed to an Overdose by officials. There is still some scepticism over Hernandez death today.

Shortly after this, Adams started to become involved in a number of high-profile altercations, many of which would hamper his career despite his talent in the ring. In June of 1986 while travelling back from a show in Puerto Rico, Adams headbutted an Airline pilot and punched a male attendant. This resulted in a 90-day jail and a $500 fine. It is believed that Adams’ belligerence was a result of being denied alcohol by an FAA inspector and that he was restrained by Kevin Von Erich in the process. By September of 1986, Adams had left WCCW to join Bill Watts’ UWF but later returned to WCCW in 1987 as UWF was absorbed into the NWA.

In UWF, Adams became tag partners with Terry Taylor, known to many as The Red Rooster in WWF in later years. They later feuded and carried this back over into the newly acquired by NWA, WCCW. Over the next few years, Adams would find himself in the upper mid-card region of the company’s talent pool, competing against many of the companies’ big stars and also working with companies like Georgia Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Alliance.

In 1988, Chris Adams opened his own training school based out of the world-famous Dallas Sportatorium. Two of his most popular students were Scott Hall/Razor Ramon and Stone-Cold Steve Austin. In 1989, Adams was arrested and sentenced to a year’s probation after his wife was found beaten after Adams had flown into a rage, again related to his Alcohol abuse. He was later involved in more legal troubles and again place don probation for 2 DUI arrests in 1991.

After the WCCW has ceased business in 1990, Adams returned to the independent circuit. He would visit numerous territories having matches for various championships during this time. He won the GWF Heavyweight Title on 2 occasions in 1994 and also a brief stint as the NWA Heavyweight champion in 1995 after Jim Crockett had taken control of the company.

He continued wrestling with various NWA affiliated territories and other independents up until joining WCW in 1997.

When joining WCW, Chris was placed into a British stable called The Blue Bloods alongside Lord Steven Regal (later William Regal) and Squire David Taylor. This stable was not together for very long due to some personal issues between Regal and Adams which hampered the stable from becoming credible in the eyes of the WCW officials. Adams wrestled against Randy Savage in the first match of WCW’s new midweek show, Thunder in 1998. Adams got a pinfall over Savage, but the decision was overturned by JJ Dillon after interference from Lex Luger swayed the match in Adams’ favour. He began to drop down the card, working as an enhancement for other talents to get victories over. He left the company in 1999 and returned to Texas where he began promoting shows and wrestling part time.

During his career, Adams unfortunately fell victim to a number of addictions, his first with Alcohol. David Manning said in the Documentary ‘Gentleman’s Choice’ that his Alcohol dependency was heightened after a flight cancellation due to unforeseen circumstances by the airline prompted them to offer a free bar to the wrestlers on the flight, not for a few drinks but for several hours until a flight was arranged for them.

Adams was also a heavy user of GHB, which at the time was being used by bodybuilders and wrestlers alike as an alternative to steroids but it did not have the same anabolic effects as steroids and left longer addictive tendencies with the users. Many of the people using them believed that the GHB worked while they slept.

Adams and his then girlfriend Linda Kaphengst overdosed on a combination of alcohol and GHB in April 2000. Adams survived, but Kaphengst was not so lucky. The overdose starved her brain of oxygen and her family were told that should she survive, she would likely have long term brain trauma. A few hours later, her situation worsened, and her family had to make the difficult to turn off her breathing apparatus.

Adams was not originally suspected in any foul play at the time of the incident and went on to marry again in August 2001, but an intoxicated and threatening voicemail left on answer machine to Pam Hernandez stating that if she did not stop meddling in his affairs then she would ‘end up like Linda’. This voicemail was brought to the Homicide team dealing with Linda’s death and Chris was indicted on a manslaughter charge.

He was due to be indicted but the day before his hearing, he was fatally shot in the chest during a drunken fight with a close friend Brent ‘Booray’ Parnell on October 7th, 2001. Booray claimed self-defence, stating that Adams snapped off a piece of bedframe and tried to attack him with it. Booray claims in the documentary ‘Gentleman’s Choice’ that he does not know the reason for Adams’ behaviour at the time, other than asking him to keep the noise down as his mother was sleeping in the next room. He said that his eyes were black and almost demonic at the time of the fight, which is a known side effect of the drug GHB.

Booray was cleared of all charges against him as acting in self-defence.

Adams, although a clean-cut Olympic prospect from the UK, fell victim to the harsh lifestyles of living on the road as a professional wrestler. Though many still speak of him based on the poor choices he made during his life, many still speak of the apt moniker ‘Gentleman’ given to the late Judoka-turned-Wrestler.

His legacy of wrestling some of the sport’s greatest names in the 80’s and 90’s, training future hall of fame wrestlers and one of the UK’s least discussed exports is somewhat tarnished by his final days.

I have posted the link from Youtube to the 2008 documentary ‘Gentleman’s Choice’ below uploaded in full by The Hannibal TV.

If you have liked this post, please leave a review and follow for future posts.

Thanks!

https://youtu.be/-sgxAH47TsA

[domiandsascha]

The Sweetest of Heartbreaks

An emotional essay on Domi’s run at the Us Open.

Sport is the most heartbreaking of passions. Believe me, I've tried them all. I don't know how to be an average fan. I don't "like", I obsess. And even though I think being passionate is wonderful, I really wish I could tone my emotional investment down, because sport, and especially tennis, hurts more often than not.

The day after Arsène Wenger retired from Arsenal, a customer, devastated and unable to put his pain into perspective, told me "Sport is the most important of irrelevant things. It means nothing on the big scale of life and yet, it means the world. It's silly how sad I am, but I can't help it". Twenty four hours after the Madrid final, I could relate, big time, being way more upset than one should be following a tennis match. But as he had said, I couldn't help it. There's no way to rationalize the disappointment when your heart belongs to a team or a player.

Since the day Dominic Thiem has taken, unknowingly, full ownership of mine, I feel like I've been on a never ending rollercoaster ride. It's psychologically exhausting. Now, would I jump out of my seat if I could? No. Never. But I've been trying to protect myself in case of unavoidable nosedives. The most efficient seatbelt I've found is to lower my expectations to what I'm certain Dominic is capable of, based on current circumstances. Don't get me wrong, my faith in him is limitless and he will achieve greatness. But history has proven that a few things beyond his control can get in the way of his tennis abilities. And also, Hope is a perverse b*tch. So I'm being cautious and pragmatic. It's safer and healthier considering the irrational impact of Dominic's results on my wellbeing.      

Therefore, two days before the beginning of the US Open 2018, my take on Dominic's chances would have cost me a few "And you call yourself a fan??" had I made it public. But let's face it. He hadn't won a single match on hardcourt since Indian Wells in March and he had just been injured, sick and through a heavy personal disappointment in Kitzbühel not too long before. So draw in hands, facts in mind and my arch enemy Hope silenced in the basement, I set my expectations to what I knew Dominic could do: reach Round 4 and defend his points.

I watched his first game against Basic on my phone, a great friend of mine face-timing me from Grandstand where she was seated, sixth row. I couldn't really follow the points, seeing only Dominic and a third of the court on my screen, but I understood he had broken his opponent, playing flawless and lethal tennis. So Hope got rid of her gag and yelled "OMG! He's going to have an epic US Open!". I shut her up. "Don't you start!".

He won easily, but struggled against Johnson, which I had seen coming after Steve's epic run the previous week. Dominic did it the hard way, probably harder than he could have. He drove me to turn off the stream at some point and to fear a premature heartbreak. But he did it and reinforced one of my certainties: he was born for five setters and epic battles. Then came the match against Fritz. Dominic lost his cool, which I like to see, even though I maybe shouldn't. And not only did he play great tennis, he also displayed, once again, his unbelievable sportsmanship, advising Taylor to challenge a call on break point. A friend told me "Domi shouldn't do that. He's too nice!". And I thought "Oh, he should. Always". He didn't become my favorite player because of his backhand or his deep runs at the French Open. He's my favorite player because he's a gem of a human being and I'll forever value kindness above all qualities.

And there we were. Round 4. Points had been defended. Personal expectations had been reached. Facts in mind once again -their head-to-head, the surface and Anderson's current form-, I allowed Hope to come back in the leaving-room but asked her not to be too loud. Winning this one would be difficult, but it was possible.

Before the match, I tweeted "May our boy play his best tennis and enjoy himself". That's all I've ever wanted. That's why the finals in Madrid and Paris had been so painful and hard to recover from, despite the pride from watching him reached them. Because Dominic hadn't enjoyed his time on court and had left both tournaments thinking he could have played better. So yes, if he had to lose against Kevin, I was hoping he would do it in style.

Two hours and thirty-five minutes later, at 5-2 in the third set tiebreak, I was bawling my eyes out, both my hands pressed against my chest, overwhelmed and dizzy, but feeling so light I could have flown away. This, right then, this rush, this very instant, was the reason why I would never jump out of the rollercoaster. That was the point when the train reaches the top of the highest slope, when your heart starts racing, as you know what's coming, but you let go of the security guardrail and raise your arms, because you feel a hundred percent safe. I was feeling so safe. I didn't think for one second I should silence Hope. "It's not over til it's over!". It wasn't hope. It was over. It had been over from the moment Dominic had broken Kevin in the first set and it had made no doubt from then. It might have taken a fourth set, but ultimately, Dominic would have won this match. He was playing his absolute most clever and efficient tennis and he was having the time of his life doing so. Up to the very last point, he showed the full extent of his skills and his reaction after his amazing final shot increased my life expectancy by a decade.

During the following forty-eight hours, there was no way to silence Hope. It didn't matter that Dominic had to play Rafa next. Feeling this safe is too rare, I had to make the most of it. So I was walking down the streets, grinning like an idiot, day dreaming he was going to beat Djokovic in straight sets on Sunday evening and lift the trophy. There was no stopping him, there was no stopping me.

The morning of the match, I tweeted "May our boy pull off the upset we all know he's capable of". And the reason why we all knew it, was that Dominic had made it clear he knew it too. Everything he had said in interviews was screaming fierceness and willpower.

I've explained it at the beginning, I set my expectations to what I'm certain Dominic is capable of.

So at 2am UK time, Hope sat right next to me in my chair and I hugged her tight.

The first set was a surreal experience. It was mesmerizing and more satisfying than any set of tennis I had ever watched. But somehow, it was terrifying. It felt like one of those dreams, where everything is perfect, but a tiny part of your subconscious is aware you're asleep, aware the dream might end or turn into a nightmare at any second. Dominic was flawless, his tennis was spectacular and he wasn't playing against a diminished opponent. Rafa was being outsmarted, outrun, outgunned and it was all about Dominic's genius. But still, such a score line was abnormal.

A year before, to the day, Dominic had won an opening set with a score line that felt abnormal. The circumstances were way different, but it was impossible not to think about it. I don't believe any Dominic fan has fully recovered from this heartbreak. I know I haven't.

Oddly, I would have felt safer if Dominic had won this first set 6-4. He was playing Rafa, a man whose ability to recover, adapt and start fresh has been proven to be the best there's ever been. I couldn't help but picture a beast, which had just been deeply provoked and was about to attack, with all it had. So I was smiling, still, of course, but biting my nails and glancing at Hope who was really confused and had no clue what to do.

And indeed, Rafa recovered and adapted, but Dominic didn't falter. He didn't get scared. He held on, he kept fighting, kept painting lines, kept producing mind-bending tennis and kept believing. So I kept believing too. Until he lost the third set. I switched off my laptop. The commentator on Amazon Prime had just said "I feel like Thiem deserved to win this set, considering the terrific tennis he's been playing" and that's exactly how I was feeling. Dominic was maintaining an unbelievable level and still, it wasn't quite enough. So would anything be? Hope had left my place and discouragement had taken over. And even though Dominic looked nothing but discouraged, I was too exhausted to watch him fight in vain. The idea of seeing him lose three sets, after that miracle of an opening one, was unbearable. Cruel and heart wrecking.

I went to bed as dawn was glimmering through my curtains. But of course I couldn't sleep, of course I couldn't let go of my phone for more than three minutes in a row. Of course I was following the score and reactions on twitter. I knew Dominic was still battling with a mental and physical strength that was about to go down in tennis history. And I felt guilty to be hiding underneath my duvet like a coward. To have given up when he hadn't.

When he won the fourth set tiebreak, Hope stormed back into my room, turned the lights and my laptop back on and glued me to my chair. She had never seemed so dangerous and perverse. I could foresee the violence of the shock, should this specific ride end up in a wall after so many ups and downs. It would be painful. Really painful. But this time, something was different. This time, I was protected by a brand new kind of seatbelt, I was snuggled in a cocoon of pride and gratitude. After four hours, Dominic was still playing his heart out and he was turning mine into a colorful and sweet substance that wouldn't break, no matter what. Watching him save breakpoints by the shovelful, throw winners left and right, keep his focus and his cool, show so much resilience, all the while being an absolute angel towards everybody on court, was a dream come true. Except this one was and would remain a hundred percent real. Nothing could erase it. No outcome could stain the joy of witnessing Dominic achieve greatness.

Dominic was Great.

The fifth set tiebreak began and Hope tried to hide underneath the table. I pulled her back next to me and smiled. Whatever was about to happen, to Dominic and to my heart, we would face it together.

At 3pm, I went to work, having slept two hours and a half, my fingers skinned from all the biting, my throat hitching from all the nervous cigarettes smoked, my stomach aching from the amount of chocolate swallowed frenetically. My colleague and good friend greeted me with a sad face and a comforting hug. But he quickly took a step back and frowned "How are you so cheerful??". He had just seen the score line. He just knew Dominic had lost. He had no idea how painless this heartbreak was.

Yes, my heart had cracked, despite everything, when Dominic had hit this final overhead wide. Tears had filled up my eyes and a rush of bitterness had shaken my entire body. I had cursed the "fifth set tiebreak rule" out loud, because it had felt so freaking unfair that, after such a fight, a single mistake on serve could be decisive.

But then, there had been this hug, this proof of Rafa's respect and affection. A respect and affection earned through years of rivalry and sportsmanship. There had been Dominic's peaceful acceptation while he was still on court, his smiles to the umpire and the crowd, something about his face whispering to my ear "He's okay, he will be okay". The standing ovation and the praising headlines already pouring in on social medias. His press conference, turning the whisper into a loud promise "He's okay, he will be okay".

And finally, this long overdue consequence: the world falling in love with Dominic. He was finally given the credit he had always deserved, as a player and as a person. He was finally seen for who he is: a man with an arm of steel and a heart of gold.

I was cheerful, because I was happy beyond words, still snuggled in my cocoon of pride and gratitude.

Writing those lines, a week later, I'm still really emotional about it all. That's why I needed to set it down on paper. So I never forget. So the next time tennis feels like the most heartbreaking of passions, I'll remember how fulfilling it also is.

Sport is, indeed, the most important of irrelevant things.

In a world that's constantly shaking underneath our feet, it is an anchor. In a life that goes so fast it can consume our feelings and leave us empty, it is an inexhaustible source of raw emotions keeping us alive.

I don't know how to be an average fan and I'm not planning on ever trying. Because I'm lucky enough to have chosen someone who makes every twist of the ride worth it.

  Thank you, Dominic. From the bottom of my heart.

[expatimes]

Djokovic wins record-extending ninth Australian Open

A tournament that had to contend with many uncertainties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, climaxed with Novak Djokovic remaining an unbreakable force as he thrashed Daniil Medvedev to claim a record-extending ninth Australian Open title.

The world number one’s 7-5 6-2 6-2 triumph on Sunday under the lights at Rod Laver Arena secured his 18th Grand Slam title, bringing him within tantalising reach of Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal’s all-time men’s record of 20.

Djokovic used superb serving and his usual relentless returning and baseline excellence to grab 11 of 13 games in one stretch and beat a visibly frustrated Medvedev for a third trophy in a row at Melbourne Park.

The 33-year-old from Serbia improved to 18-0 combined in semifinals and finals on the hard courts of the Australian Open.

“It has been a rollercoaster week for me,” said Djokovic, who was criticised for complaining about coronavirus quarantine conditions players had to endure upon arriving in Australia for the tournament.

“There are a lot of mixed feeling about what has happened in the last month or so with tennis players coming to Australia but I think when we draw a line at the end it was a successful tournament.

“It wasn’t easy but I think they should be proud of themselves for what they have put together and allowed us to come here.”

Looking at the bigger picture, Djokovic has won six of the last 10 major tournaments and is assured of remaining at number one in the rankings at least through March 8. That will give him 311 weeks in the top spot, breaking a mark held by Federer.

The number four-ranked Medvedev was appearing in his second Grand Slam final – he was the runner-up to Nadal at the 2019 US Open – but is still left trying to collect his first such championship.

Djokovic ended the 25-year-old Russian’s 20-match winning streak. Medvedev also had won his previous 12 matches against Top 10 opponents.

But going up against Djokovic in Australia is a very different challenge.

By the second set, as things slipped away, Medvedev bounced his white racket off the blue court, then absolutely destroyed it with a full-on spike. By the third, he kept looking up at his coach with palms up as if to ask: “What can I possibly do here?”

It is a familiar sentiment in this stadium, on this court, at this tournament. Federer, Nadal, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Dominic Thiem – all Grand Slam champions, all defeated by Djokovic in semifinals or finals in Melbourne.

The nine triumphs in Australia complement five at Wimbledon, three at the US Open and one at the French Open for Djokovic.

The math looks good for Djokovic. He is about a year younger than Nadal and six and a half years younger than Federer, who turns 40 in August. Federer has not competed in more than a year after having two knee operations but is expected to return to the tour next month.

‘No-le, No-le, No-le!’

On a cool, cloudy evening, an event delayed by three weeks because of the coronavirus pandemic concluded with an announced attendance of 7,426 at Rod Laver Arena.

Spectators were barred entirely for five days earlier in the tournament because of a local COVID-19 lockdown, but they were eventually let back in at 50 percent capacity.

A majority favoured Djokovic on Sunday, so plenty of choruses of his nickname rang out – “No-le, No-le, No-le!” – and Serbian flags dotted the stands, flapping in a swirling breeze.

This was his 28th major final, even with Nadal for the second-most by a man in tennis history, trailing Federer’s 31.

  Djokovic’s run to the title this year was a little fraught at times.

First of all, he wrenched his midsection during a slip in the third round against American Taylor Fritz; after that win, Djokovic said he had torn a muscle, but by the time he played his semifinal, he declared himself pain-free.

Plus, entering Sunday, Djokovic already had ceded five sets through six matches, the most he had dropped in any Grand Slam tournament en route to a final.

But Djokovic broke in half of Medvedev’s 14 service games, won 73 percent of the points when his own first serves went in and 58 percent on seconds. And Djokovic played so cleanly, with just 17 unforced errors; Medvedev made 13.

“Never easy to speak when you just lost a grand slam final, but I’ll do my best,” said Medvedev after his loss. “Congrats to Novak. Nine Slams in Australia is amazing and this won’t be your last one.”

Djokovic returned the compliment, saying Medvedev was “definitely one of the toughest players I ever faced in my life.

“It’s a matter of time that you will hold a Grand Slam for sure – if you don’t mind waiting a few more years!”

Read full article: https://expatimes.com/?p=18328&feed_id=34574

[fritzes]

Toronto 2023 aka one of the most bizarre tournaments of the entire season

Even Daniil winning Rome has nothing on this chaos:

First, let us take a look at some of the seeds in this tournament. Casper Ruud is the third seed, having just flopped his way through the entirety of grass season and getting bageled in the final of a clay 250. Fourth and fifth seeds are Stefanos Tsitsipas and Holger Rune - we'll get to them later. The tenth seed is Félix Auger-Aliassime, who has only managed to hold onto his spot because most of his points are from the end of the season. For reasons inexplicable to me, Cameron Norrie is the eleventh seed. Borna Coric, holding on to his Cincinnati points, is the fourteenth seed.

In round one, lucky loser Vukic immediately upsets Coric 6-2 6-3. Qualifier Purcell takes out FAA 6-4 6-4. Milos Raonic, given a wildcard into his home tournament, beats tenth seed Frances Tiafoe in a tight match in which there was a ton of drama about what areas of the net it is acceptable to touch and win a point. Speaking of Canadian wildcards, Diallo beats Evans, who had just won Washington the week before. And finally, Alex de Minaur (we'll be seeing a lot of him) beats Norrie in a comfortable 7-5 6-4.

In round two, the top seeds come in and a lot of them immediately head out. Fifth seed Holger Rune, about to enter a massive flop era, loses to qualifier Giron in three sets. Tsitsipas gets crushed by Monfils 6-4 6-3. Vukic continues his run by beating Korda in an extremely close match. With the exact same scoreline as Tsitsipas, sixth seed Andrey Rublev loses to McDonald. Thirteenth seed Zverev is utterly destroyed by Davidovich Fokina 6-1 6-2.

Now into the third round, newly crowned Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz loses the first set to Hubi Hurkacz. And, in true Hurkacz fashion, the next two sets go to tiebreaks, both of which Carlos wins handily. Vukic's crazy run is finally ended by Monfils. And Davidovich Fokina continues to show no mercy to top seeds as he takes out Casper. Now, it seems like Alex de Minaur is down and out, seeing as he is down 1-5 against eighth seed Taylor Fritz. But then he wins a game. And then another. And then another. Yes, he somehow manages to win the set and ends up breadsticking Fritz to win the match.

So into the quarterfinals we go. Carlos Alcaraz's streak, starting all the way at Queen's Club, comes to an end as he loses to the inconsistent roller coaster of a player that is Tommy Paul. Davidovich Fokina just keeps winning and beats McDonald 6-4 6-2. And again, it seems like Alex is done for, down 2-5 against Daniil Medvedev. But what do you know: he wins a game. And another. And another. Alex de Minaur does it again and wins the match in straight sets.

In the semifinals, he keeps his momentum going and beats Davidovich Fokina 6-1 6-3. Amidst all this chaos, Alex de Minaur has pulled off numerous feats of excellence and is surely on his way to a title.

But there's one top seed left.

To say that Jannik Sinner cruised through this tournament is almost an understatement. He only lost one set, and he was gifted a walkover in the third round. Tommy Paul, who just beat Alcaraz? Jannik beats him handily, 6-4 6-4.

Alex's reward for his incredible run is a final against someone he is 0-4 against, an in the near future would be 0-7 against.

Before his miracle run ever sprang from that fateful bin, Jannik Sinner emerged from this insane tournament as the winner. And a few months later, it paled in comparison to everything he would do next.

[googlenewson]

Russia's Daniil Medvedev has revealed that he has been watching Novak Djokovic's matches throughout the Australian Open.

Medvedev, seeded at No. 4, beat Stefanos Tsitsipas on Friday in straight sets to book a final clash against record eight-time Australian Open champion Djokovic.

Djokovic suffered an abdominal injury in the third round against Taylor Fritz but he managed to win that match in five sets and then also beat Milos Raonic, Alexander Zverev and Aslan Karatsev to make the final at Melbourne Park.

"I have seen a lot of matches from him because he plays in the evening and we are also in lockdown so I was watching the television. Actually didn't finish I think three of his matches because he was playing too late and I went to sleep," Medvedev revealed, per Ravi Ubha.

Medvedev thought Djokovic would lose to Fritz 

"Yeah, for sure, some controversies. Against Fritz, I went to sleep. I actually thought he was going to lose because we saw he was in pain. He couldn't fake it to lose two sets. He was up. Next matches were for sure not easy. Against Sascha I went to sleep when he was down a break in the fourth. So was some crazy matches," Medvedev said. 

"Yesterday he was on top of Aslan. And he said that he felt the best. So, yeah, so I don't expect anything easy in terms of his physical abilities on Sunday."

Medvedev won five matches in straight sets and also beat Filip Krajinovic in the third round in five sets en route to making the Australian Open final.  

Medvedev won his last three matches in straight sets as he had no problems against Andrey Rublev in the quarterfinal and Tsitsipas in the semifinal, respectively.

"With Rublev I think I played better, but was definitely a great match, still. I'm not saying it was a bad match at all. But, anyway, it was a great match to win in straight sets, especially with a tough third one," Medvedev said. 

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/2NgqMad

[freenewstoday]

New Post has been published on https://freenews.today/2021/02/14/novak-djokovic-injury-world-no-1-refuses-to-explain/

Novak Djokovic injury: World No 1 refuses to explain

Novak Djokovic injury: World No 1 refuses to explain ‘unpredictable’ Australian Open issue (Image: GETTY)

Novak Djokovic refused to go into detail about the nature of his injury after he played through the pain of an abdominal issue to beat Milos Raonic and reach the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. Djokovic could be seen wearing bandaging to his side but did not want to go into detail about his issue despite two days earlier describing it as a muscle tear.

The world No 1’s self-diagnosis after his third-round win over Taylor Fritz saw Djokovic tipped to quit the Australian Open before facing Raonic.

He skipped practice on Saturday and underwent MRI scans but despite that, he stepped out on to centre court against his Canadian opponent and won 7-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 to advance to the last eight where he will face Alexander Zverev on Tuesday.

Details are scarce about the exact nature of the Serbian’s problem and speaking after defeating Raonic, Djokovic preferred to keep the exact details private.

Asked whether he has suffered a muscle tear or just a strain, and whether the problem is in his abs, Djokovic said: “I understand that you want to know, but I really don’t want to get into it what it is. Yes, I did an MRI, I did everything, I know what it is, but I don’t want to talk about it now.

“I’m still in the tournament. I hope you guys understand that. I don’t want to speculate too much about it. It’s not ideal for me. I mean, I definitely have felt better, you know, before my third-round match against Fritz than I have starting from third set with Fritz when that happened and all the match today.

“I didn’t know few hours before I stepped on the court tonight whether I’m gonna play or not. I didn’t hit a tennis ball yesterday. As I said, I tried to use every single hour possibly to recover and give myself at least a little bit of chance to step on the court, which I have done.

Novak Djokovic injury: World No 1 refuses to explain ‘unpredictable’ Australian Open issue (Image: GETTY)

“As I said on the court, if I’m part of any other tournament other than Grand Slam, I definitely wouldn’t be playing. But it’s a Grand Slam. It matters a lot to me at this stage of my career, of course. I want to do everything possible in this very short amount of time to get on the court.

“Playing best-of-five, you know, with kind of an aggressive mover that I am on the court doesn’t help much with this kind of injury, but I think the combination of pills and medicaments and treatments and also some willpower and of course certain degree and level of bearing the pain.

“Mentally I think you have to kind of accept that I did come into the match knowing that I’ll probably feel pain all the way through, which was the case.

“But it was the level of the pain was bearable, so I could actually play. And it was kind of going on and off a little bit during the match. Certain stage of the match it was more; certain stages less.

“But I somehow managed to find a way and win, and that’s what matters the most. Now I’ve got another 40 hours or something like that till the next match, which is great about Grand Slams.

“You get that day, day and a half in between to really rest. So, you know, most likely I won’t be training tomorrow and just, again, going back to recovery routine and hoping that things will get better.”

Novak Djokovic injury: World No 1 refuses to explain ‘unpredictable’ Australian Open issue (Image: GETTY)

Djokovic admitted he has been told by his medical team that he is taking a “gamble” by playing through the problem rather than withdrawing from the tournament to rest up.

He continued: “It’s really unpredictable, you can’t know what’s going to happen with you once you’re on the court. You’re not gonna save yourself or think about going for that point or this shot or that shot.

“It just pulls you. It’s normal. Playing at this level, you just want to give it all. It could cause much more damage than it is at the moment, but it also could go in a good direction. So that’s something that I don’t know, and I don’t think I will also know until I stop taking painkillers.

“As long as I’m with high dose of painkillers, I guess, you know, still can bear some of the pain. But the tricky thing with the painkillers is that they kind of hide what’s really happening in there, so you might not feel it, but then the big damage might be done.

“But again, I’m fine with whatever is happening post-tournament, because I’m going to take time off to heal properly before I step on the court again. It was worse against Fritz in third, fourth, and fifth set than it was today the entire match [against Raonic].

DON’T MISS… Novak Djokovic message sent to Cameron Norrie after Rafael Nadal loss Thiem honest on Australian Open exit as Djokovic and Nadal get boost Rafael Nadal reacts to Novak Djokovic injury at Australian Open

“So that’s a positive obviously for me. I can’t really say what percentage, was it worse or better, I don’t really know, but I was not saving myself too much, if you know what I mean, on the court.

“There were some shots here and there when it was really an extreme ball then maybe I let it go. I don’t know. Few times. But I was in it. I was in the match. I was just trying to use my serve accurately and try to go through my service games with as less of an effort as possible.

WATCH THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN LIVE ON EUROSPORT AND EUROSPORT APP

“It’s such a quick surface. I mean, it’s the quickest court that I have ever experienced here in Australia ever since I have been coming here, you know, more than 15 years.

“You play somebody like Milos or my next opponent, Zverev, one of the best servers in the world and huge serves, you just have to kind of pray that you are reading their serve in the important moment and kind of get the break.

“I don’t know whether it was good for me or not that we didn’t have too many rallies and exchanges. It probably was, I guess, suitable to my condition at this point, even though against Fritz what bothered me the most is that quick reaction and return and changing direction.

“But, you know, some reason that today it was quite okay.”

Asked where exactly the problem is, Djokovic smiled: “Well, I mean, probably people have seen it. I mean, I have the tape on my abdominal muscle. I guess that’s where it is.

“We are in a rotational sport, so it affects everything. It’s affects every single shot. It affects every time I make a split step and turn or every time I extend and try to reach for the serve or whatever it is, you know.

Novak Djokovic injury: World No 1 refuses to explain ‘unpredictable’ Australian Open issue (Image: GETTY)

“Every extreme ball sliding, because that’s what I do, and every time I would slide today for some, you know, far reaches, I would feel it a lot. Yeah, so that’s what it is.”

Former women’s world No 1 Victoria Azarenka, a two-time Australian Open winner, has previously said journalists shouldn’t ask questions relating to the health condition of tennis players, declaring the details private.

Djokovic said: “Well, yeah, I would agree with her. I mean, I understand that obviously media wants to speculate, they want to know, they want to understand what’s going on.

“They want to convey that, communicate that to people, tennis fans, everybody who is following, because it creates a buzz, it creates a story, you know, uncertainty, as well, whether the player is going to play or not, what’s happening.

“Yeah, so I understand both sides. But I would agree with Vika, for sure. I don’t feel comfortable, I mean, comfortable to talk about. I mean, I would let medical representatives talk about that obviously in detail if there is a need for that.

“So from my side, I’m gonna tell you how I feel, but I’m not going to go into the medical conditions that I’m experiencing.”

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[thisdaynews]

Australian Open: Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Daniil Medvedev, into third round

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/australian-open-rafael-nadal-dominic-thiem-daniil-medvedev-into-third-round/

Australian Open: Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Daniil Medvedev, into third round

Rafael Nadal kissed a ballgirl on the cheek after she was hit by one of his returns

2020 Australian Open Venue:Melbourne ParkDates:20 January to 2 February Coverage:Listen on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra and online; Live text on selected matches on the BBC Sport website and app.

World number one Rafael Nadal reached the third round of the Australian Open with a straight-set win over Argentina’s Federico Delbonis.

Nadal, bidding for a record-equalling 20th Grand Slam title, swept aside 76th-ranked Delbonis 6-3 7-6 (7-4) 6-1.

The Spaniard will face compatriot and 27th seed Pablo Carreno Busta next.

There were battling five-set wins for seedsDominic ThiemandKaren Khachanovon the fourth day in Melbourne, and an entertaining victory forNick Kyrgios.

Nadal has not won the Australian Open since 2009 but he has entered this year’s first Grand Slam as the top seed.

While he was made to work against Delbonis during the second set, the Spaniard had his chances to wrap up the match quicker, converting just three of 20 break points.

Nadal also kissed a ballgirl on the cheek and gave her a headband after he accidentally struck her during a rally.

“I was so scared for her – the ball was quick and straight on to her,” Nadal said.

“She’s a super brave girl.”

Kyrgios mimics Nadal in second-round win

Dart & Watson out as British singles interests end

Play delayed on outside courts by dust and mud

Live scores, schedule and results

Thiem & Khachanov battle through

Karen Khachanov fell to the floor in exhaustion after his four-hour match against Mikael Ymer

Russian 16th seed Khachanov fought for four hours and 36 minutes to overcome Sweden’s Mikael Ymer.

Khachanov collapsed to the floor – and then struggled to stand with cramp – after sealing a 6-2 2-6 6-4 3-6 7-6 (10-8) victory over his 78th-ranked opponent.

He will face Kyrgios next after the Australian’s victory over Gilles Simon.

Fifth seed Thiem came through a five-set thriller of his own against Australian wildcard Alex Bolt.

Two-time French Open finalist Thiem overcame world number 140 Bolt 6-2 5-7 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 6-2.

Thiem, one of the fittest players on tour, ultimately outlasted his opponent in three hours and 26 minutes to set up a meeting with AmericanTaylor Fritz.

“The crowd was very fair. Of course they were for Alex, he’s an Aussie, that’s completely obvious,” Thiem said.

“But it’s nice to play in front of a full crowd that’s against you than an empty one.”

Medvedev & Zverev advance

Daniil Medvedev received treatment after suffering a nosebleed when he led 5-0 in the second set

Fourth seedDaniil Medvedevreached the third round with a straight-set win over Spanish qualifier Pedro Martinez.

The 23-year-old, beaten in September’s US Open final, had a nosebleed in the second set but won 7-5 6-1 6-3 on Margaret Court Arena.

Germany’s seventh seedAlexander Zverev, who has yet to go beyond the fourth round in Australia, beat Belarusian Egor Gerasimov 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 7-5.

QualifierErnests Gulbisof Latvia reached the Melbourne third round for the first time in his career with a straight-set win over Aljaz Bedene.

Gulbis, a former world number 10 who has fallen to 256 in the rankings, won 7-5 6-3 6-2 and will face French 10th seedGael Monfilsnext.

Monfils fought back to beat 40-year-old Croatian Ivo Karlovic 4-6 7-6 (10-8) 6-4 7-5.

AmericanJohn Isnerclaimed an unusually swift win, taking just 85 minutes to beat Chilean qualifier Alejandro Tabilo 6-4 6-3 6-3.

Big-serving Isner, who has played in the two longest matches in professional tennis history, hit 32 aces.

Kevin Anderson, who played Isner in the record-breaking Wimbledon semi-final in 2018, was beaten 4-6 6-7 (5-7) 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 6-2 by Fritz.

Salisbury sees off Evans in doubles

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[upshotre]

Djokovic shakes off poor start to win Cincinnati opener

Novak Djokovic shook off a shaky first game to launch his title defense at the ATP Cincinnati Masters with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Sam Querrey on Tuesday. The Serb world number one and top seed double-faulted three times to lose his opening service game before quickly finding his rhythm. A break back five games later and another break of Querrey to seal the opening set put Djokovic back in his element. “I ended the match well even if the start was nervy,” said Djokovic, who was playing for the first time since beating Roger Federer in the Wimbledon final last month. “Sam was feeling comfortable on the court at the start and dictating. It was tough facing his big serve. “I’m just pleased with this challenge in quick conditions, I’m glad I overcame it. “I’m hoping for a better performance in the next round.” Federer was also due back on court for the first time since Wimbledon, taking on Juan Ignacio Londero in a second-round match. In early action, Switzerland’s Stan Wawrinka won a first-round battle as he eliminated 2017 Cincinnati champion Grigor Dimitrov 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7/4). Under leaden skies after an overnight thunderstorm, Dimitrov broke in the 12th game of the first set to take the lead. The 33-year-old Swiss fought back with the only break in the second set. Wawrinka then raced into a 5-1 lead in the final set but wasted two match points in the eighth game and was broken twice while serving for victory. Wawrinka had to hold off his Bulgarian opponent in the final-set tiebreaker before squeezing through in more than two and a half hours with his 10th ace. The defeat left Dimitrov with just two victories out of six matches played since Roland Garros and four consecutive losses to Wawrinka, including last week’s opening round in Montreal. Wawrinka, who played a 2012 semi-final here, will face Russian qualifier Andrey Rublev, a 6-7 (4/7), 6-4, 6-2 winner over 15th seed Nikoloz Basilashvili from Georgia. In other opening-round matches, Montreal semi-finalist Gael Monfils exited to Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (9/7), 6-3 and Belgian David Goffin beat Taylor Fritz of the United States 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. France’s Benoit Paire advanced 6-4 as Spaniard Fernando Verdasco retired. Read the full article

[lavotha]

Highlights of some of the battles

Tuesday, April 16 was cloudy but no rain in the horizon at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, with plenty of action in all five courts. As it is the tradition, on Tuesday morning the tournament umpires, linemen and women were reunited on court Rainier III for a memorable photo.

The first match saw Frenchman Jo Wilfried Tsonga retiring after less than an hour on the court due to a back problem. His adversary American Taylor Fritz ATP 65thwas on his Monte-Carlo debut and believe me he will not have the same luck when he faces Argentine Diego Schwartzman on Wednesday.

Jo Wilfried Tsonga.April 16, 2019 @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Jo Wilfried Tsonga treated for back problem, April 16, 2019 @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

American Taylor Fritz, April 16, 2019, Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

As predicted, German Philipp Kohlschreiber proved to be a very tough opponent for World No. 1 Novak Djokovic who debuted on Central Court today.  The Serbian was driven to desperation (destroying a racket!) by a highly focused contender, but managed to win in the third set to advance to the next round, and is determined to up his game in order to go further.  He will be facing either Argentine Diego Schwartzman or American Taylor Fritz who play on Wednesday.

“In a way it’s good I got to spend two-and-a-half hours on the court in my first opening match in the clay court season,” said Djokovic. “This surface is very demanding physically.” (Photo: Novak Djokovic,16/04/19 @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha)

ATP 36thSwiss Stan Wawrinka was ousted by Italian Marco Cecchinatoranked ATP 16th in three sets. Cecchinato will meet Argentine Guido Pella, ATP 34th, who played his best tennis and stunned ATP 11thCroatian Marin Cilic in three sets, who was the favorite. The 28-year old lefty Pella was very emotional when interviewed by Marc Maury after the match, saying it was his first time on Central Court in Monte-Carlo, and thanked the public for their support.  Pella seemed to have enough energy when he then proceeded to join his doubles partner Hungarian Marton Fucsovics winning in two straight sets against the Fognini-Berrettini Italian duo.

Marin Cilic, April 16, 2019 @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha.JPGjpg

Guido Pella, April 16, 2019 @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Guido Pella after defeating Marin Cilic, April 16, 2019 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters @CelinaLafuentedeLavotha

Another Italian 23-year-old Lorenzo Sonego passed to the third round after defeating ATP No.12, 22-year-old Russian Karen Khachanovin two straight sets. He will be meeting either British Cameron Norrie or Hungarian Marton Fucsovics in the third round.

Singles Results – Tuesday, April 16

Doubles Results – Tuesday, April 16

Program for Wednesday, April 17

Photographer’s Contest Prize Ceremony

As it is the tradition every year, Tuesday morning there were no photographers to be found on the courts, as they all gathered in the VIP Village for the Prize Ceremony of the photo contest organized by Alain Manigley. The best photos from each participating professional photographer accredited to the tournament are selected and compiled by Alain into the “Best of Collectors” booklet that immortalizes each new edition of the Rolex Masters Monte-Carlo. Proud to announce that Monaco Reporter’s photographer has received a prize several years in a row. (Photo: Accredited photographers participating in the contest @ZEL)

Today’s Quote

“Tennis is a mental game. Everyone is fit, everyone hits great forehands and backhands.”Novak Djokovic

Tsonga retired, Djokovic managed to advance, Argentine Pella won singles & doubles on the same day in Monte-Carlo Highlights of some of the battles Tuesday, April 16 was cloudy but no rain in the horizon at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, with plenty of action in all five courts.

[junker-town]

Australian Open 2018: Men's bracket, schedule, scores, and results

Can Roger Federer defend his title at the Australian Open? We have all the info you need to follow the tournament, including viewing and streaming info as well as results.

The Big Four aren’t quite done, but men’s tennis may be seeing a shift in the coming years. For now, going into the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open, some of the usual suspects are favored to win it, but the field continues to get interesting as Roger Federer gets older and guys like Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray are derailed by injuries.

Murray’s injuries are particularly worrisome, as the player himself has suggested that this tournament could be his last, regardless of how badly he wants to make it to Wimbledon this year.

Nadal is playing as well, and says he’s at 100 percent, but he dropped out of a tournament just a few weeks ago. That means Federer, at 37 years old and a six-time winner in Australia, is considered the favorite.

He’s also the two-time defending champion after winning the tournament in 2017 and 2018. Novak Djokovic would be considered Federer’s top competition at this point, but the field contains a slew of young players who are hoping to make that next step, whether that be cracking into the top 20 and doing damage past the third round or guys inside the top 10 still searching for their first Grand Slam title.

Djokovic is coming off winning the last two Grand Slams, lifting the trophy at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2018. Alexander Zverev, the world No. 4, is still searching for his first real opportunity at doing damage in a slam, as success in the big four tournaments has eluded him. He did, however, earn the top prize at the ATP Finals in November.

Karen Khachanov and Daniil Medvedev are two of the young guns to watch, as both are making their way up the rankings and giving the top guys some trouble. Kevin Anders, Marin Cilic, Kei Nishikori, Grigor Dimitrov and many other familiar faces will also be in action in Australia.

Below is a full bracket, schedule, and results, which will be updated throughout the tournament.

Viewing information

Not much has changed in watching the Australian Open for those in the United States, though there is the one downside of some matches and courts that used to be free on WatchESPN are now locked behind the ESPN+ paywall. A seven-day free trial of ESPN+ can be found here. Television coverage will primarily be handled by ESPN and ESPN2, while there will be many free matches and courts streaming on WatchESPN and ESPN3.

Unless stated otherwise, times ascribed to dates in the evening which end in the morning are ending the following day.

Through the first three rounds, play will begin around 7 p.m. ET on one day and will end around 7 a.m. the following day. “Monday” at the Australian Open is Monday proper for those in Melbourne, but begins on Sunday evening for those in the United States, with play wrapping up on Monday morning. Did you manage to follow all of that?

How to watch the Australian Open

Schedule

Day 1, Sunday, Jan. 13

No. 2 Rafael Nadal vs. James Duckworth No. 3 Roger Federer vs. Denis Istomin No. 5 Kevin Anderson vs. Adrian Mannarino No. 6 Marin CIlic vs. Bernard Tomic No. 9 John Isner vs. Reilly Opelka No. 10 Karen Khachanov vs. Peter Gojowczyk No. 13 Kyle Edmund vs. Tomas Berdych No. 14 Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Matteo Berrettini No. 18 Diego Schwartzman vs. Rudolf Molleker No. 19 Nikoloz Basilashvili vs. Christopher Eubanks No. 20 Grigor Dimitrov vs. Janko Tipsarevic No. 22 Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Andy Murray No. 26 Fernando Verdasco vs. Miomir Kecmanovic No. 27 Alex de Minaur vs. Pedro Sousa No. 30 Gael Monfils vs. Damir Dzumhur No. 31 Steve Johnson vs. Andreas Seppi Matthew Ebden vs. Jan-Lennard Struff Feliciano Lopez vs. Jordan Thompson Federico Delbonis vs. John Millman Michael Mmoh vs. Radu Albot Andrey Rublev vs. Mackenzie McDonald Mirza Basic vs. Henri Laaksonen Cameron Norrie vs. Taylor Fritz Jason Kubler vs. Thomas Fabbiano Guillermo Garcia-Lopez vs. Robin Haase Marc Polmans vs. Denis Kudla Frances Tiafoe vs. Prajnesh Gunneswaran Tatsuma Ito vs. Daniel Evans Yoshihito Nishioka vs. Tennys Sandgren Pablo Cuevas vs. Dusan Lajovic Stefano Travaglia vs. Guido Andreozzi Viktor Troicki vs. Roberto Carballes Baena

Day 2, Monday, Jan. 14

First round

Day 3, Tuesday, Jan. 15

Second round

Day 4, Wednesday, Jan. 16

Second round

Day 5, Thursday, Jan. 17

Third round

Day 6, Friday, Jan. 18

Third round

Day 7, Saturday, Jan. 19

Round of 16

Day 8, Sunday, Jan. 20

Round of 16

Day 9, Monday, Jan. 21

Quarterfinals

Day 10, Tuesday, Jan. 22

Quarterfinals

Day 11, Wednesday, Jan. 23

Quarterfinals, women’s semifinals

Day 12, Thursday, Jan. 24

Men’s semifinals

Day 13, Friday, Jan. 25

Men’s semifinals

Day 14, Saturday, Jan. 26

Women’s final

Day 15, Sunday, Jan. 27

Men’s final

Bracket

Bracket taken from the official Australian Open live draw.

[fritzes]

my thoughts on some of these insane acapulco first round matches:

draper v paul: for a third time this year, these two will play each other. yes, three matches in two months. their first two matches are split, and rather predictably jack won the best of 3 match and tommy won the best of 5 match. I think that’s pretty indicative of how this is gonna go: if jack is healthy and can keep his stamina up, I think he can probably win. tommy made back-to-back finals for two weeks, and he’s probably tired. that said, those finals show that he’s in good form while I’m not really sure how jack is playing right now

safiullin v tsitsipas: tbh, I think safiullin wins this match. stefanos just isn’t there right now, and he hits way too many unforced errors. he has to be consistent if he wants to beat the absolute wall that is safiullin, and consistency just isn’t something he’s capable of right now

ruud v eubanks: it’s hard to predict this match because casper is just so unpredictable. I watched his match against tsitsipas in los cabos, and he would play one point absolutely incredibly and then make a ridiculous unforced error on the next. this is one of those matches wholly dependent on just one of the competitor’s levels. I said the same thing about the casper/stefanos match: if casper is on for most of the match, he’ll win, not much that chris can do. but if he’s off, chris’ serve is gonna destroy him and he’ll probably lose

arnaldi v fritz: ohhhh boy. here we go. so, taylor is obviously the very heavy favorite. not just in terms of rankings, but also his general tennis ability. his serve is obviously much better than matteo’s - taylor may have a pretty mediocre first serve percentage, but his power (and more importantly, placement) makes up for that. matteo also has an inconsistent serve, but even when it goes right it isn’t nearly as dominant as taylor’s. in general, I would also say taylor has better and more consistent groundstrokes. however, I will give matteo the edge on movement, he’s very quick and can get to most shots. taylor did well to add a good drop shot to his game, but I don’t think it will work that well on matteo. so yes, taylor will most likely win, but if matteo is having one of those days where he’s suddenly playing like a top 30 player (which tends to happen with him), he can definitely trouble taylor. this will either be taylor winning in straight sets or a tense, tiebreak-filled three setter

[googlenewson]

Novak Djokovic once again managed to outdo himself in the third round match against Taylor Fritz. The Serbian champion, during the third set, got injured by slipping on the Melbourne sign and requested the intervention of the physiotherapist several times. Despite the pain and the two consecutive sets lost, Djokovic didn't give up, he stayed on his feet and found a way to win one of the most complicated games of his career. Only in the fifth and decisive set did the Belgrade give some signs of recovery, but the injury does not seem to be light and could force him to retire before the next match. “First off, I want to congratulate Taylor on the great fight, I'm sorry he lost today. I tried to stay there and hope that whatever happened, I would feel better as time went on. Towards the end of the fourth set I felt better, but in the third and fourth sets I only served, I couldn't do much in response”, explained Djokovic after the victory. “This is one of the most special victories of my life, especially in these conditions; I believe I will never forget it. I don't want to talk about the intensity of the pain, people don't understand how it feels on the pitch. At the beginning of the third set, when I called the medical time out, in my head I was thinking of retiring, because I couldn't move. I couldn't rotate, I couldn't answer. The service got me out of trouble. I think it's a tear, I had that kind of feeling in a response before I left the pitch. I immediately realized that something unpleasant was happening and the physiotherapist confirmed it for me. Next game? Let's see, I don't know. I don't have much experience with this type of injury. I don't know what will happen and if I will be able to take the field. I am very proud of what I did today and we will see what happens tomorrow." In a recent interview, Diego Schwartzman has explained why it is so hard to take on Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic at Grand Slams events. Schwartzman has faced the Big Three on 20 occasions but he has only come out on top once - against Nadal at the Italian Open last year.

Schwartzman on facing the Big 3

"It's different playing against Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, these guys," Diego Schwartzman said. "It's not easy playing them in five sets because you have to play your best tennis maybe for three, four hours, five hours. It's not easy. It's not easy," he told reporters. "Physically it's very hard. Mentally it's very hard. To improve and to beat the best guys on tour, you have to play them and you have to beat them. They are really different, even if you see the food from Nole, the food from Rafa and Roger. And how they play on court; one likes to play on clay, one on grass... they are different. They have one leftie, one aggressive and one sliding like Novak."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/37froUb