WTA Tennis

[wlaxnut]

US Open women's final. Bianca Andreescu vs Serena Williams

Will you watch the match? Who are you rooting for? What are the odds of another chapter of Serena controversy? Think the chair umpire gets told to handle Serena with kid gloves? Does Andreescu have a chance or will she be overwhelmed by the moment?

[Brooklyn]

In recent tournaments Serena has gotten tired in the late rounds. While she retains her strength, she no longer has what they used to call "staying power" back in the day.


Bianca has made a dramatic rise in the rankings as shown here: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/06/spor ... eescu.html

While she is strong she will need composure to overcome Serena. A full house is expected for the Championship tomorrow. Not sure who will win but, as usual, I'll do my patriotic duty by pulling for the Yank over the Canadian.

[Brooklyn]

It is only too evident that Serena is no longer the Queen of tennis. She started out with her usual power game but lost the precision she used to have as the match progressed. One hour and 40 minutes after the first ball was struck, the match was done: 6-3, 7-5.


https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/08/spor ... nning.html

[Brooklyn]

Tennis Princess Chrissie Evert in the no frills days:


In a no-frills era, Evert drank water straight out of ball cans

by Rohit Binath. Assistant Sports Editor


If you want to walk down the lanes of history, you get a legend as a guide. If you want to appreciate how far women's tennis has come, you hitch a ride with a champion in her time machine.

Someone like her, with 18 Grand Slam singles titles, who was the first woman to ever win the WTA Finals, then called the Virginia Slims Championships, in 1972.

Someone like Chris Evert.

Someone to remind us that the WTA Finals wasn't always manicures in the players' lounge, tickets to the Backstreet Boys and Porsches to drive you to the official hotel, which of course is free.

Today the WTA Finals champion is going to earn US$2,207,000 (S$3,012,810) while in 1972 the total prize money was US$100,000. Evert, 62, paid for her own hotels in those days and can't even remember the size of the cheque she got for winning. It was a long time ago when Elvis was still singing and Marlon Brando was mumbling in The Godfather.

You can't tell progress till you travel backwards. You can't appreciate the modern idea of entourages, travelling coaches and hitting partners, till Evert tells you about her first French Open final.

"Martina (Navratilova) and I, in our first French Open final (1975), warmed up together. And then had lunch together. And then played a match against each other. And I remember Martina, when we warmed up, she was serving and I was returning, and she goes, 'Do you want any more serves, Chris?'"
"Yes," Evert remembers telling Navratilova, "could you serve a few more wide to my backhand so I can practise that. She said, 'Okay'. She did whatever I asked her to do and vice versa.

Chris Evert tossing the coin before the start of the singles final at the 2015 WTA Finals. The American, who won 18 Grand Slam singles titles, says she remembers using just one racket for an entire tournament.

"And then we had lunch. We had roast chicken, I will never forget that."

And then they fought for a Grand Slam title.

Young tennis players, who don't know these stories, might grow up thinking it was always like this: Fancy sports drinks at changeovers. New shoes whenever you want. Chairs to sit on with ballkids standing behind and holding umbrellas. Like ladies at some garden party.




more:


https://www.straitstimes.com/sport/tenn ... -ball-cans

[njbill]

I had a big crush on Chris back in the day. I wasn’t alone. Saw her play at Wimbledon in 1974, the year of the Love Double. Hard to believe Chrissie will turn 65 in a few days.

I also remember drinking water out of a tennis can.

[Brooklyn]

On another thread we chatted about how a college education is, more often than not, a death knell for those seeking a professional sports career. I can give many examples but the one that strikes me the most is Lake Wobegone's Jessie Aney:






Years ago she ranked #4 in the USTA. Jessie played exclusively against boys in her senior year at Rochester-Century high school and went undefeated until the State finals.* Along with CiCi Bellis she was thought to be the future of USA women's pro tennis. CiCi turned pro and has earned well over a million in prize money (this does not include endorsement money). By contrast, Jessie went to North Carolina U where she was competitive but her skills clearly degenerated. She graduated, dropped out of tennis, and is now playing varsity hockey in UConn. I don't know what career path she will take but it certainly will not be in the multimillion dollar tennis industry. Too bad that she did not turn pro as CiCi or she would have made a fortune.

Lesson learned: for those contemplating a career in pro sports ~ don't make the mistake of going to college!




* she had had a tough doubles match just minutes before the finals and was clearly tired or she could well have won that championship match

[Brooklyn]

Coco Gauff, 15, just beat Venus Williams for the second time in a year, taking her to the second round of the Australian Open


15-year-old Cori "Coco" Gauff beat seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus Williams in her Australian Open debut to advance to the tournament's second round. The American youngster breezed past Williams, 39, in straight sets at the Margaret Court Arena, winning 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.


https://www.wtatennis.com/news/1579984/ ... en-rematch


MELBOURNE, Australia - In one of the most-anticipated first-round clashes at the 2020 Australian Open, 15-year-old Coco Gauff took down former World No.1 Venus Williams in straight sets.

The clash was a rematch of their Wimbledon opening-round battle, where Gauff announced herself to the tennis world in stunning fashion, defeating former champion Venus in straight sets to win her first Grand Slam main draw match.

"I definitely was more confident this time," said Gauff. "I think I was used to playing on big courts, so the size of the crowd didn't startle me as much as last time. I was definitely a bit more positive coming into this match this time around."

Read more: Top 5 2019 WTA Upsets (No.2): Gauff sparks mania with Venus victory at Wimbledon

Now a WTA title holder and ranked inside the Top 100, Gauff - the youngest player in the draw - was poised beyond her years as she took on the great champion across the net in Venus, twice a finalist here in Melbourne.

Gauff stayed calm under pressure, firing 17 winners and winning 64% of points at the net en route to a confident 7-6(5), 6-3 victory.






Let's hope Coco does the smart thing and continue to play tennis. Forget about college until AFTER your career is over. That way you will make a fortune and laugh all the way to the bank unlike those who waste their time in college.

[Brooklyn]

15-year-old Coco Gauff sensationally defeats reigning champion Naomi Osaka in the third round of Australian Open 2020!



Big upset. With the type of money she will making, let's hope she won't make the mistake of going to college. Naomi Osaka also did not go to college and has made over $13 million in prize money as a pro with considerably more in endorsements.


***********


Wang Qiang defeated Serena Williams in a tough fought 2 of 3 set.



A thought occurred to me - while Serena did not waste a minute in college, Venus went to art-design college in Florida and that was when her skills and tennis successes declined. She has never been the same.



All those girls excelling in the WTA tour - none of them wasting their time in college, thankfully. Let's hope others will follow their wise example.

[Jim Malone]

Australian Open 2020 turning out to be a doozy! Brisbane Open lead up seemed marred with wildfires' smoke.

Gauff is a phenomenal up and coming player that needs to be guided in an "unCapriati" manner. Seems to be the "future" since last year's US Open 2019 run which I attended. Her parents are right there with her, too.

Bad boy Kyrigos is also interesting to watch and read about his antics. McEnroe has nothing on him.

Little kid Schwartzman is fun to watch. Disciple of Nadal's Spanish Academy.

Federer is Federer and Nadal is Nadal, both one year older.

[Brooklyn]

Watched this match last night:






also watched part of Halep's win over Mertens


Tomorrow's quarter final will be Halep-Konraveit. Should be fun with loads of grunting.


What's amazing is how there is so much talent in the WTA and most of the girls are 18 or under. Not one of them has ever spent one minute in a college and will be millionaires by the time they are 22. They can then retire and never have to work a day in their lives ever again. How I wish Jessie Aney (who I mentioned in an above post) had not made the mistake of going to college - she would be right up there making millions in the WTA and bringing great joy to her fans and community.

[wlaxnut]

Watched this match last night:






also watched part of Halep's win over Mertens


Tomorrow's quarter final will be Halep-Konraveit. Should be fun with loads of grunting. :lol:


What's amazing is how there is so much talent in the WTA and most of the girls are 18 or under. Not one of them has ever spent one minute in a college and will be millionaires by the time they are 22. They can then retire and never have to work a day in their lives ever again. How I wish Jessie Aney (who I mentioned in an above post) had not made the mistake of going to college - she would be right up there making millions in the WTA and bringing great joy to her fans and community.

The grunting and banshee cries are becoming insufferable. I can’t watch players who make all kinds of noise anymore. I’ve lost a lot of interest in the sport because of it. I like Mertens. I’m glad Serena got bounced. I’ve had quite enough of her in the same way I’ve had quite enough of the New England Patriots. Is there anyone you are rooting for to win the Australian?

[Brooklyn]

The grunting and banshee cries are becoming insufferable. I can’t watch players who make all kinds of noise anymore. I’ve lost a lot of interest in the sport because of it. I like Mertens. I’m glad Serena got bounced. I’ve had quite enough of her in the same way I’ve had quite enough of the New England Patriots. Is there anyone you are rooting for to win the Australian?

- grunting and banshee cries -

Yup, I certainly can understand. It does get annoying after a while. Pro tennis tried to stop it by ordering USTA coaches to teach their girls to pipe down. But it hasn't worked one bit and in all honesty, I don't think it will be ended any time soon. That's what happens when power is emphasized in the game unlike the past where ball control serve-and-volley was the rule of the day.

As for who I'm rooting for, it's usually any American girl and am sad that Serena got bounced - but, I guess, that's to be expected. Will check again later on but I do believe the only 2 remaining in the tourny are Russian-American girls whose parents immigrated here so that they can play pro tennis: Sofia Kenin & I think the other is Amanda Anisimova but am not sure. So long as it's a Yank at the top, I'm happy.

[wlaxnut]

I don't think it's possible for me to care any less for who ends up winning the Australian open. I think it would be a form of torture to make a body sit in the arena and listen to Halep and Muguruza wail like banshees back and forth at each other for 2 hours.

https://youtu.be/yvuXuYuWATg

[Nigel]

I don't think it's possible for me to care any less for who ends up winning the Australian open. I think it would be a form of torture to make a body sit in the arena and listen to Halep and Muguruza wail like banshees back and forth at each other for 2 hours.

https://youtu.be/yvuXuYuWATg

I really used to like watching tennis but have to agree. Could you imagine baseball players doing the same on every swing? Or hockey players on every slapshot? I simply can't watch anymore.

[Brooklyn]

USA's adopted daughter Sofia Kenin wins AO.

[Brooklyn]

I really used to like watching tennis but have to agree. Could you imagine baseball players doing the same on every swing? Or hockey players on every slapshot? I simply can't watch anymore.

I can understand. But it's just like NFL or other sports where players are celebrating and going into dances all game long. Some guy ties his shoe laces properly and they go into a song and dance. Another catches the ball and engages in a wild reverie. Still another scores a touchdown and a Bacchanal breaks out: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... Museum.jpg




Speaking of hockey, remember this display by Tiger Williams:

[Nigel]

I think the Niners had one of those bacchanal thingies in the endzone after their 2nd interception last night. Crashed and burned right after that. Bet GM Lynch really liked that display.

[Brooklyn]

Masha Retires!





https://www.rt.com/sport/481739-sharapo ... wimbledon/


https://edition.cnn.com/2020/02/26/tenn ... index.html



Beauty, strength, and talent!

[njbill]

Boy, didn’t she just win Wimbledon yesterday?

[Brooklyn]

Boy, didn’t she just win Wimbledon yesterday?

She won Wimby in 2004. I believe the 2014 FO was her last Grand Slam win. Recurrent shoulder problems along with a 2 year ban due to violation of prohibited substance rule really hurt her career. But now she will have plenty of time to count all her money which is reported to be well over $200 M.