ILE rolling non-slam Tennis thread

OUCH @ that scoreline vs Wozniacki for Bencic. Woz's style is always going to kill young players but no positives about a double bagel...

thx for the info on kontaveit lex!

lmao @ Fognini, peak Tanknini right now (as defending champion, to an opponent who's called the trainer for illness twice). 14 points in a row for Krajinovic

18 of the last 19 points, lollllll

LMAO, in the WTA Bastad tournament ONE seed, Annika Beck, made it out of R1

Zverev a set and a break up on Youzhny (and he should've broken at least twice already in this set). I like his game a lot!

saw a little bit of the replay of Zverev beating Haase last night, dude is fun to watch (and it's startling watching someone that young just taking it to opponents after this recent "mature" tennis player renaissance)

I post, they choke. Every time

I always felt the "tennis players are getting older" narrative was overblown b/c one of the factors - that there were no top-quality juniors coming through - was always left unsaid. (Also, there are pretty individual reasons for players like Serena and Li still going in their 30s - cf Agassi.) So I'm not surprised that if there are 16/17yos with the quality of this Zverev or Ana Konjuh, they won't look out of place against regular Tour players

Youzhny pretty much breaks himself to love at 5-5, Zverev will serve for it...

And he does it. Exciting talent!

youngest player to beat a top 20 player since Gasquet in 2007

I guess it's the most promising start for a young guy since Tomic? Unlikely that he'll throw it away like Bernie has.

http://instagram.com/p/qjWZ3lEHxD/

carowozniacki
21 minutes ago
Out and about in Istanbul. It's been 3 years since I have worn heels on a normal day out. #feelsgood #looksgood #shopping #highheels #sunFollow

*applause*

also, that McIlroy shade makes me think of the Taylor Swift lyric: "he didn't like it when I wore high heels, but I do..."

anyway, it's pretty neat right now flicking between streams of up-and-comers - Konjuh made a bit of a meal of the second set vs Doi but I still think she'll come through; Siniakova is seriously grumpy, at least 10 racquet-chucks in half a set vs Nara, and her game isn't overwhelming; Zverev still playing impressively vs Giraldo...

Konjuh and Zverev both serve for a place in their first QF; both simultaneously miss a MP and get broken.

Both win anyway, Konjuh by breaking in the next game and Zverev in the TB.

Most impressive win for Zverev this week, Youzhny may be ranked higher but Giraldo's in better form. Dolgopolov somehow lost to Kamke so that's opened his path to the SF tantalisingly...

Konjuh is now 27-9 in three-set matches in her senior career. That's astonishingly good for someone so young.

And against her toughest competition in WTA events (MD and qualies) and Fed Cup, she's 10-1.

Jeff Sackmann ‏@tennisabstract 1h

Wins versus top 100, before 18th birthday (active players):
Nadal: 24
Hewitt: 9
Federer: 7
Zverev: 6
Gasquet: 5
Delpo: 4

and he's the youngest to make an ATP QF since Nadal

at a 500 no less

Jeff Sackmann ‏@tennisabstract 1h

Wins versus top 100, before 18th birthday (active players):
Nadal: 24
Hewitt: 9
Federer: 7
Zverev: 6
Gasquet: 5
Delpo: 4

― lex pretend, Thursday, July 17, 2014 4:29 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

didn't fully process this because I didn't realize he doesn't turn 18 until April 2015!

Into the top 200, into Slam qualy territory

will be interesting to see how he fares as the favourite against Kamke, someone he's beaten recently and the first opponent here that people "expect" him to beat, regardless of ranking

I didn't see it, but 0-6 7-5 6-3 is a score that says a lot about Zverev's mental resilience.

Jaw just dropped at that winner from Konjuh. Raced across the court to nail a BH pass off a Svitolina smash. Played a loose second set but has been peaking in the third set...

Konjuh wins 6-4 1-6 6-1 with a clean dropshot winner on MP. So impressive. 28-9 in three-setters now. It feels very appropriate that these two 1997 kids are having their breakthrough weeks at the same time...

I suddenly had that horrible feeling that I'd seen Zverev's DAD play but no... it's Alexander VOLKOV that I saw play McEnroe in the Wirral International in '88. Doesn't make me any younger, mind.

We've seen Zverev's big bro play - 26yo Mischa, former world #45 and 2010 Metz finalist and uhhhh nothing else of note

Though if you remember Rossana Neffa De Los Rios or Patricia Hy-Boulais, you may not be comforted to know that both their daughters have competed in ITF pro events this year

I do recall those names. But if we're talking about pro offspring, on the same day and on the same court I saw Volkov-McEnroe in West Kirby in '88, I saw Miloslav Mecir lose to Jim Pugh.

Oh yeah I saw his son in Wim qualies. But I was too young to see his dad so it doesn't count for me! ^_^

ferrer steamrolled zverev, too bad but impressive of him to get there

been away all week seems like I missed some good tennis. had a tennis dream last night though fwiw. can't remember which player was in it or if I'd even recognise them irl

of course Tomic wins a title the week after IMG drops him

people always say the interzome between Wimbledon and the US hard court swing is dead air but the kids just keep coming this year. 17-yr-old Borna Coric beats 7th seed Edouard Roger-Vasselin in Umag. Really impressed with his power, anticipation, mental strength - he won so many games from 0-15 or 0-30 down.

lmao, Young and Harrison won five games (and were fed two bagels) between them in their R1 Atlanta matches vs Sela and Smyczek.

and now Coric is in a main tour QF. New era it seems.

Coric a set and a break up on Fognini. I think he might be about to push Fognini into tank mode

two seventeen year olds making semifinals in a week?

Fognini thrives on this kind of dreamcrushing tho

h8 watching isner and hes always on

I'd like to highlight this hilarious wording from a story (caught it on Tennistemple):

"France's Gael Monfils has withdrawn from next week's ATP and WTA tennis tournament in Washington with a nagging right knee injury..."

I know what they're trying to say is that it's a joint event, but I can't help but read it as saying that Monfils was also entered in the women's draw. I think he might be too much of a headcase even for the WTA though.

nice job by stevie johnson to knock out isner + karlovic on consecutive days

props to pospisil, berdych is such a chump tho

I'm sorry, but my inner tennisforum/ATRL fangirl just has to say YAS VENUS SLAY ME QUEEN.

Azarenka out of the top 10! I mean it's hard to credit her not getting back in it, and it's also sad that now Ivanovic is in it but you've gotta think that by the Australian Open next year order vis-a-vis those two will be restored.

tbh if Ivanovic has her head back on, she should be in the top 10

nishikori/gasquet backhand rallys are p fun

rip nishi tho, too bad i had hi hopes for this match

pospisil/gasquet has been v fun