ILE rolling non-slam Tennis thread

(I watched Serena/Woz, first set Serena seemed determined to match Woz in the pushing stakes but thankfully decided to get it together. Mini-choke at the end but very straightfoward otherwise.)

Thought Ferrer was about to have his Vitas Gerulaitis moment here ("no one beats David Ferrer sixteen times in a row!") but Fed completely on top in the decider. So far.

Ha - on a challenge, by a millimetre. Federer's 80th title.

Ferrer played about as well as he can in the first 2 sets.

those wacky Cincy trophies smh

Rafa out of the USO, not that unsurprisingly

It is very odd to think that the favourite is probably...Federer. Nadal out, Murray shit, Djokovic still honeymooning mentally

yea hes def the favorite

Can see Fed being 'surprised' on the way though.

The most open major...in an era?

When is Jelena Ristic due to give birth, anyway? Or has it happened and I didn't notice?

If Djokovic/Murray regain enough form to reach the SF/F, I wouldn't count them out against Federer.

I intend to put a largeish wager on Djokovic because he's not particularly interested in The Narrative.

hard to see Nole being the wreck he's been over the last few weeks, maybe could be vulnerable before the SFs but i don't trust the rest of the field to take advantage. now would be a great time for Murray to stop being shit

When is Jelena Ristic due to give birth, anyway? Or has it happened and I didn't notice?

If Djokovic/Murray regain enough form to reach the SF/F, I wouldn't count them out against Federer.

― lex pretend, Monday, August 18, 2014 1:28 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Jelena is between 7-8 months and is at home in Monte Carlo which explains some of Djoker's distraction level I'd imagine.

Nole is slightly better than even money and Federer is 3.5-1 to win the open which seems about right.

The guy I truly don't see winning is Murray.

cibu not heading into the open too well

Cibulkova went 24-7 from January to April, then she lost that insane match in the KL final to Vekic and since then has gone 5-9.

Yeah, if Ristic hasn't given birth yet then I don't expect Djokovic to snap out of it at the USO.

wow some really terrible line calls in murguruza/peng

man giorgi is so frustrating

Venus/Lucic is such a special final. Mirjana's first final since Bol 1998. Insane to think they were teen prodigies together.

And a very special outcome. Mirjana!!!

yesterday's final really got me thinking about how Venus/Mirjana finals should've been one of that generation's finest rivalries. And how their respective families and teams really shaped their talents into such divergent careers. If Mirjana's dad had been the Richard Williams type...

Bencic was absolutely stellar in thrashing Sweta today. She can put that BH exactly where she wants to with such consistency, and she can conjure up angles wt full stretch. FH is much improved, as is the second serve.

Also, this tennis handshake happened. BZS, never change

http://i.imgur.com/0avw8v7.gif

impressive serving from vaidisova in her first comeback match

Rumours are swirling that Li is going to retire. NOOOOOOOO!

sad but 100% expected tbh

it was in the offing as soon as that chinese academy took carlos back really

Vaidisova's temper hasn't changed!

Na's retirement confirmed

Not surprising but still :(

Ashleigh Barty's also retired (or "taken an indefinite hiatus") at just 18. That does come out of the blue, though it's not as if she ever showed a great deal of drive about her career anyway. All those WCs wasted, lol. She was on the way to a great doubles career though. I expect she'll be back in a few years.

Oh god, I just realised that Li's last ever point was THAT DF down MP after the overrule. What a very...Li Na way to end a career. Also very Li Na: ending her career on the first day of the tournament created for her.

I saw her last ever match in person!

Suarez Navarro is so good for the game, hope she keeps up her form

bye Li Na. really glad she stayed on to win that 2nd slam instead of retiring last summer or whenever it was rumoured before

Niculescu wins Guangzhou: the most dominant title run of the year! No more than 4 games lost in each match <3333

Dimitrov's Spotify playlist!

https://twitter.com/SholzTalks10s/status/513222381549387776

<3

On board with this "Goffin is the male Halep" narrative. Gamewise and career trajectory-wise, it all fits. Initial minor hype after promising result as a youngster; two-year stall during which they didn't even look impressive; sudden massive breakthrough and multiple tournament wins out of nowhere, both playing every shot and rally with so much confidence and purpose. Anyway, Metz title (beating Tsonga en route), 34 wins in his past 36 matches, he's coming.

Just noticed Goffin won Metz and that should put his ranking up to 32. He still looks adorably boyish and I think maybe he's too modest in scale to really get much higher than this but this is kinda heartwarming.

x-post!

I had that window open a long time, what can I say. Other than "Goffin is still cute lololol."

Garcia is so damn talented. And for all that she's a known choker, she's just won third set TBs on consecutive days against Venus and Aga. GET MORE CONSISTENT THO, these wins looked wonderful but I also see your string of losses preceding this...to Barthel, Gibbs, BZS, Begu, Babos...

Ivanovic retired down 5-7 5-6 lol

also I just noticed that Gajdosova has won 12 matches in the last 2,5 weeks

I saw Goffin win all of five games vs Monaco at the Olympics two years ago and he looked out of his depth with nothing remarkable about his game. Late bloomer.

lmao a Serena/Cornet re-rematch in R2 of Wuhan. You'd think that it'd be Serena Vengeance Time but then you'd have thought that at Wimbledon.

Really excited about a potential Gajdosova renaissance. I mean, sure, she's a brainless ball basher, but damn it, I like her and she's dealt with a lot of shit and playing her way back in smaller tournaments and getting lots of wins warms my heart.

Sweta is a set up over Sharapova. COME ON.

Gotta say I think Radwanska may be in for a lean 2015.

Cornet technically 3-0 over Serena in 2014. Wut.

Serena out of sorts, other top players flopping terribly... Wozniacki to finish 2015 at #1 without a Slam, you read it first here.

the next 12 months are going to be hilariously awful.

wow, timea has beaten sharapova in straight sets! so good to have her back.

She was working in a hotel this time last year apparently! Hadn't seen her for so long. Still the same - wonderful BH, iffy FH that accidentally gives people fits with its junk, sort of like Pironkova. She played excellently.

what an amazing comeback story for her this year