ILE rolling non-slam Tennis thread

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

shut up toni nadal pt 94903422

http://www.si.com/tennis/2014/09/23/ap-ten-spain-leon-nadal

Petra up 3-0 over Hypechard in a couple of minuts :D :D :D. Come on Petra, finish this before you get too sweaty.

Bouchard really should just stand back, hope, and moonball. That's really all she could hurt Kvitova with.

Only danger Petra faces vs Bouchard is getting bored bc it's so easy. Was pretty funny when the commentators commended Bouchard for finally getting more than three games in a set vs Petra. Little milestones!

the Murray final was hilarious today. So bad and then 2-6 down in the TB he suddenly decided to be aggressive. Finally wins a title in 2014!

Benneteau meanwhile falls to 0-10 in career finals, though I'm happier to see Kei rebound from the USO final.

Errani's first serve percentage in the third set vs Nara today was 91%. She won 9% of those first serve points. Stats very much in character

lol @ the beijing crowd laughing about gulbis' forehand technique

Good win for Murray over Cilic today. Was disappointed to belatedly discover that Cilic did this though: http://www.croatiansports.com/?p=20322

Marko Perkovic seems to be an ultra-nationalist verging on fascist, and in 2007 there were reports of Croatian crowds doing neo-nazi salutes at his concerts: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marko_Perkovi%C4%87

His band's music was apparently played at changeovers during Davis Cup vs SRB, too. Cilic has since apologised and said it was beyond his control but c'mon dude, you got up on stage and sang his songs.

So.. how did Maria lose against Ivanovic earlier this year again?

Kozlov the youngest player to make a Challenger final since Tomic.

So.. how did Maria lose against Ivanovic earlier this year again?

I didn't see any of the matches in question but I really have no idea how Ivanovic beat Maria or Serena this year. Every time I've seen her she looks the same as ever

I have had a REALLY SHITTY DAY and nothing short of a straight-sets Petra win will make me feel like life is worth living.

This is the most frustrating rivalry in tennis. It is entirely about winning the big points and Petra cannot do it. EVEN THOUGH SHE DID IT IN THE WIMBLEDON FINAL.

At least Kei beat Raonic :)

Just not enough depth on the average rally ball and no penetration on serve when it counted.

this Fed/Mayer match...6-6 in the final set TB, Mayer's blown 4 MPs so far

Fed saves 5 MPs, takes his first with a lob winner. Mayer looked disconsolate even before the handshake

yea i watched the re-airing of that, felt badly for mayer he was nearly crying

Of course, after that Mayer match, Roger brings out Aggressorer v Djokovic. Very tidy.

Simon/Federer's first set was excellent quality!

Fed/Djokovic yesterday was such an enjoyable match. Amazing to think Fed's week began with that mess of a match.

So disappointed that Diyas and Bencic didn't win their first titles today :(

It's Lucie so I shouldn't be surprised but I am still astounded that down SP, faced with a nervous Begu serve that barely crawled over the net at about 10mph, Lucie shanked a return that is yet to land

anyway, YEC groups.

White Group

1. Serena Williams
4. Simona Halep
5. Eugenie Bouchard
7. Ana Ivanovic

Red Group

2. Maria Sharapova
3. Petra Kvitova
6. Agnieszka Radwanska
8. Caroline Wozniacki

goddamn, I was hoping for another Bouchard/Kvitova life-giving match-up.