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ChickenStu
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 Posted: Thu Jan 23, 2025 10:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Especially since these guys aren't all souped up on PED's like they were a decade earlier and before that, asking guys past 35 years of age to win 7 matches, every other day, for 2 weeks in a best-of-5 format is asking a lot. |
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ChickenStu
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| Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2025 2:58 am Post subject: |
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| Keys did it! Keys got up 5-1 in the first before winning the opening set 6-3. Then Sabalenka turned it around and easily won the second set 6-2. Finally, the two of them both produced their best tennis in the final set. Keys came up with two great winners at 3-3 and 30-30 to hold, and then did exactly the same serving at 5-5 and 30-30. There were no breaks of serve in the final set before Sabalenka stepped to the line at 5-6. She got all of her first serves in but it didn't matter. Keys came up with a huge backhand down the line winner at 0-15 and then, with match point at 30-40, ripped another return deep to get Sabalenka off balance, and two shots later she found an inside out forehand to put the match away. Anyone who has followed tennis for the last 10 years has seen Keys fall apart several times in big spots. This time, she seized the moment. Just awesome stuff. |
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DuncanIdaho
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| Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2025 7:27 am Post subject: |
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She beat 4 top 10 seeds and Svitolina on this run. Absolutely epic. So happy she finally broke through!
I can’t think of a better run in a major in recent memory, or maybe even in the last two decades. |
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ChickenStu
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| Posted: Sat Jan 25, 2025 12:12 pm Post subject: |
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| DuncanIdaho wrote: | She beat 4 top 10 seeds and Svitolina on this run. Absolutely epic. So happy she finally broke through!
I can’t think of a better run in a major in recent memory, or maybe even in the last two decades. |
Twelve wins in a row in Australia. She had won the prior tournament in Adelaide as well. |
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LongBeachPoly
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| Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2025 12:18 pm Post subject: |
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| Instead of Alcaraz, it might be Sinner who’s the next one (PEDs and all). |
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ChickenStu
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Location: Anaheim, CA
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| Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2025 1:50 pm Post subject: |
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| LongBeachPoly wrote: | | Instead of Alcaraz, it might be Sinner who’s the next one (PEDs and all). |
He reminds me of Djokovic a bit. Like Novak, Sinner may not have the flair of his biggest rival or rivals, but he is a workmanlike robot from the baseline off both wings, point after point, and his movement is excellent. He appears to be the king of the hard courts at the moment. |
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dont_be_a_wuss
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| Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2025 2:00 pm Post subject: |
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| LongBeachPoly wrote: | | Instead of Alcaraz, it might be Sinner who’s the next one (PEDs and all). |
I just read the PED story. His alibi is that his trainer was personally using an over the counter spray to treat a wound on his own body, but residue from the spray remained on the trainers hands and was passed to Sinner through bare hand sports massage. That’s a new one. |
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LongBeachPoly
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| Posted: Sun Jan 26, 2025 2:17 pm Post subject: |
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| dont_be_a_wuss wrote: | | LongBeachPoly wrote: | | Instead of Alcaraz, it might be Sinner who’s the next one (PEDs and all). |
I just read the PED story. His alibi is that his trainer was personally using an over the counter spray to treat a wound on his own body, but residue from the spray remained on the trainers hands and was passed to Sinner through bare hand sports massage. That’s a new one. |
Everybody caught swears they are innocent.
Tatis Jr. had some kind of skin rash as well.
I have a theory that people pick PEDs based on their availability in over the counter medications. That way, if they're caught, they can point to the over the counter version. |
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C M B
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| Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2025 10:17 pm Post subject: |
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I really miss Roger.
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Wilt
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| Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2025 11:01 pm Post subject: |
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I miss Edberg and Becker and Sampras.
I must have spent thousands of hours watching Tennis in the late 80s and 90s as a kid. There was something about the brevity and aggressiveness of serve-and-volley that I enjoyed.
I watched the first two sets of the final the other night before falling asleep. But it's the same boring long rally before the opponent makes a mistake type of tennis that is just not fun to watch, at least for me. And whenever either guy approached the net, it was comical. |
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ChickenStu
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| Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2025 11:26 pm Post subject: |
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| Wilt wrote: | I miss Edberg and Becker and Sampras.
I must have spent thousands of hours watching Tennis in the late 80s and 90s as a kid. There was something about the brevity and aggressiveness of serve-and-volley that I enjoyed.
I watched the first two sets of the final the other night before falling asleep. But it's the same boring long rally before the opponent makes a mistake type of tennis that is just not fun to watch, at least for me. And whenever either guy approached the net, it was comical. |
It's not as visually pleasing to watch, there is no question about it. I completely agree with you that there was far more nuance when you had the clashes of styles like Lendl vs. McEnroe, Edberg vs. Wilander, Sampras vs. Agassi, Navratilova vs. Evert, and so on. Even in the women's game, if you got a medium-short ball, you were coming to net. But now, it's just not the right play analytically because they'll just pass you at net too easily (due to various factors which we've already discussed here in this thread). So the game has evolved, and the tennis is "better", but it doesn't look as pleasing to watch. The same thing is going on in the NBA and the same thing was going on in MLB. At least baseball has instituted new rules to try to bring some excitement back into the game, but yeah, it's still less exciting than the brand of baseball that was played in the 80's and 90's and probably the 2000's also. |
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jodeke
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Location: In a world where admitting to not knowing something is considered a great way to learn.
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| Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2025 11:09 am Post subject: |
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I haven't been watching tennis. Watching the morning news I found out that one of my favorite players won the Australian Open, Madison Keys. Injury has been her bane.  
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wolfpaclaker
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| Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2025 7:25 am Post subject: |
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Sinner banned until May
Will not miss Roland Garros.
Not that I think he can beat Alcaraz on clay, anyway.
Id guess he will just train his butt off on clay now being able to skip the entire hard court swing in Qatar, Cali, Florida etc.
In a way he can build his body and game patterns up to win a French, probably the hardest one for him to win. |
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LongBeachPoly
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Joined: 14 Jul 2012
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| Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2025 9:45 am Post subject: |
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^^^
3 month doping ban that you can schedule so as to not miss any grand slam events - is silly:
| Quote: | Nick Kyrgios: Jannik Sinner doping deal 'sad day for tennis'
ESPN News Services
Jannik Sinner's deal with the World Anti-Doping Agency to accept a three-month ban for positive doping tests has been criticized by Australian player Nick Kyrgios, with the Professional Tennis Players Association citing a "lack of transparency" in the system.
Sinner, the top-ranked men's player, said Saturday he accepted the ban which means he won't miss any Grand Slam tournaments. The French Open, the season's next major, starts May 25.
Kyrgios took to the social network X to discuss what he saw as unfair treatment, noting that WADA had previously sought to ban Sinner from the sport for at least one year.
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| Quote: | Nicholas Kyrgios
@NickKyrgios
So wada come out and say it would be a 1-2 year ban. Obviously sinners team have done everything in their power to just go ahead and take a 3 month ban, no titles lost, no prize money lost. Guilty or not? Sad day for tennis. Fairness in tennis does not exist.
Feb 15, 2025
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DuncanIdaho
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Joined: 26 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2025 2:23 pm Post subject: |
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Andreeva just beat Sabalenka in the Indian Wells final two days after beating Iga. Her second WTA 1000 this month. And she's 17.
Saw another stat that she's only the third woman under 18 to beat the #1 and #2 at the same event. The other two? Steffi and Serena.
Superstar in the making. |
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wolfpaclaker
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| Posted: Mon Mar 17, 2025 2:09 am Post subject: |
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Helps when your sister is already on the pro tour and you can train at that level in practice when you're a juniors player at 13, 14, 15. Just hitting at that pace and working on your patterns against a pro level player vs elite juniors makes a big difference.
Same thing was for Zverev. Saw him start to strong when he was 17-18 etc because his bro was also on the tour for years.
Unlike Sasha, at least she has a better shot at wining a slam/slams. Womens tennis is wide open. Men had a small chance when Nadal/Fed got old to get some slams in but then Alcaraz/Sinner got ready to win slams and now it's once again very tough for the others to win.
Only truly dominant/consistent womens player is Iga on Clay, only. Her extreme FH grip/spin/RPM combo + backhand down the line make her tough to beat there. Rest of the slams are wide open usually. Keys. Coco won one, Bianca, freaking Radacanu even (complete bust since winning US). I wouldn't be shocked to see Andreeva win. Women's tennis is wide open. Any top 50 WTA woman can win a slam. Unlike mens. |
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C M B
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Joined: 15 Nov 2006
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Location: Prarie & Manchester, high above the western sideline
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| Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2025 12:20 am Post subject: |
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whoa a filipina wild card took down Iga
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| Sister Golden Hair wrote: | LAMAR ODOM is an anagram for ... DOOM ALARM
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