ILE rolling non-slam Tennis thread

lmao another apology which turns into an extended paean to herself à la USO 2009.

also "what I supposedly said" is curious - if she's accusing Rolling Stone of making shit up you'd think she'd do so in stronger terms, this just seems like mealy-mouthed hint-hinting

Someone posted on Facebook a rumour from a Czech tabloid that Stepanek and Vaidisova are getting divorced and Radek is leaving her for... no... please... no... Petra. There's really no in-between for that girl, if true. Small child, old man. I hope it's false!

ahem it's this time of year now WIMBLEDON 2013

Mahut 12-2 on grass this year with 2 titles, only one other main draw match the entire year. From outside the top 200 to #75.

Keothavong retired with immediate effect today, to precisely no one's surprise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0Mhnqa0Ces

I always liked that we had a Hackney-born-and-raised daughter of immigrants at the forefront of British women's tennis for so long. Top 50 career high and five tour SFs is a decent career given her talent level and her injury issues. I'm fairly sure she'll become a familiar face/voice in the commentary booth...

Since Federer changed his racquet, I've put a lazy ten bucks against him each match. Totally cleaning up right now!

What is Federer doing playing Hamburg and Gstaad anyway?

Getting used to a new racquet and trying to get some confidence. Not very well! I figured after losing a set to Brands and then two to Delbonis, Brands was a near-certainty to finish the job.

isner/hewitt tiebreak for the match

radwanska saves a 5th champ pt vs cibu

cant save a 6th, wow good stuff there

stosur def. azarenka 6-2 6-3. 4th career title

that was one of the worst matches I have ever seen

I didn't watch it (obviously) but it ended in an Azarenka loss, so I refuse to believe that it wasn't joy on a stick.

Nine games in they'd hit 22 UEs each. It says a lot about Stosur that this was her best result of the year and all I can think is how disgusting that someone who shanks so many routine balls, who literally cannot hit a groundstroke properly, is near the top of the game.

Much better: Magdalena Rybarikova defending her Washington title. She has such superb touch, the half-volley winner at 4-1 in the TB was to die for. She beat Petkovic in the final - Petkorazzi back in the top 50 now.

denis istomin 6-2 first set on djoko!

ok, wtf @ get lucky dance routine

I think Djokovic is as normal and well-adjusted a person as anyone could possibly be with those two parents he has.

Not as dramatic as when Novak did it, but Raonic blatantly touched the net at a crucial point v Pony. The umpire missed it but then it got shown on a reply that was visible on court. Oops. Raonic got the point, broke back, then took out the second set scarcely without resistance. Dubious ethics, but probably for the best, don't hurt that back any more Pony.

http://tennis.si.com/2013/08/08/milos-raonics-win-over-juan-martin-del-potro-tainted-by-controversy/

"Hypothetically yes, technically no" is a ludicrous thing to say. You can tell from Raonic's initial reaction he assumed he'd lost the point. Terrible umpiring from Mo!!!

Gulbis was really good against Murray (who was pretty flat) earlier, hope he beats Raonic now.

Ivanovic choking from 5-2 up in the third against Li was hilarious and oh so predictable.

Aga was a bit sloppy against Stephens but still took her apart pretty easily.

What was with that nonsense of scheduling an ATP exo on centre court midway through a WTA tournament, anyway? So insulting to the women. I know the WTA will take some time to recover from those terrible few years in the late '00s (and its ongoing mismanagement and the WTA's own dreadful approach to PR) but it's disappointing to see tournament directors pull stunts like this. And if your solution to "a lack of WTA marquee names" is a LOPEZ-TOMIC EXHIBITION, well, just, well.

Anyway I see Lopez and Tomic were pullin' in crowds worthy of their $20k appearance fee each:

http://pbs.twimg.com/media/BRME96QCcAAGj3P.jpg

maybe if Lopez had played shirtless

ugh, pretty terrible of Raonic - even if he got lucky when Mo missed it the first time, he should've just conceded once they showed the replay. esp shitty against someone like Pony, who in several matches I've seen has no problem conceding points to his opponents when he thinks they've gotten a bad call.

So A-Rad is hitting her forehand with some actual speed occasionally in this Errani match, and hitting a crapload of shots out wide.

37 winners, 34 unforced errors. Well, Wozniacki could never, at least.

Pospisil has looked like a future top 15 guy

Petra. Broken seven times. Double faults on just about all the break points. Why can't I give you up?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI02H22bzRg

http://i.imgur.com/dgbPQtd.png
<3

So this happened yesterday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N22RaHVDRKI

I have never seen a more ludicrous way to lose a final game

classic fog

sharapova is p rattled vs sloane here 3rd set

Okay so if Sloane can reliably take out Sharapova and Serena, her hype may be justified

Well, she'll have to get a win over Serena uninjured and one over Sharapova when she's not playing like complete shit for us to get a good idea, but my instinct is still that she never wins a GS.

She might get a perfect storm situation at a US Open like Stosur did and wind up with one.

the perfect storm scenario could apply to any of about 30 players though. I just see nothing overwhelming about her game or indeed results, she's a talented top 20 player with the capacity to beat subpar top players and I guess Schiavone was one of those for her whole career and wound up with a Slam but it'll HAVE to be a perfect storm.

Sharapova's first match under Connors' tutelage, fwiw

what she's done so far reflects well on her mental strength which is half the battle i guess, i've also not been that impressed by what i've seen of her game though

I know Stosur is usually rubbish, but her run at the US Open is really underrated (though at least partially abetted by some match-up issues). Petrova, Kirilenko, Zvonareva, Kerber, Williams is five players in a row who had been, or went on to be, in the top 10, and she'd done plenty previously to suggest that she could win these matches against non-hobbled opponents. Stephens still hasn't done enough to suggest that she's a particularly likely beneficiary of a perfect storm. If all the multi-slam winners die in a ditch then I'd still be surprised if Stephens was able to get through whoever they face in the final - I would imagine if over the other side of the net in a Slam final there was Radwanska, Stosur, Li, Kerber, Kvitova or even Wozniacki (or Errani off grass), Stephens would be a huge underdog and would be unlikely to win. The development for her to win matches like that hasn't happened yet.

Not just the established top players either - a lot of Stephens' press centres around how young she is and how much she can improve but tbh while she's easily the best of the (generally poor) 1992-93 generation, I think the players a couple of years younger have a much higher talent ceiling - I really doubt that Stephens will end up with a better career than Keys, Vekic or Konjuh, maybe even Townsend (who right now is the real "oh my god so much work to be done but so much talent to be tapped if you do it" junior).

I'm also not sure about Stephens' mentality...OK, she doesn't choke, and in that respect she's ahead of Keys (who can totally melt down) or Vekic (terrible record in finals), but I don't see the champion's instinctive hunger to beat everyone. I've seen Sloane just throw the towel in too much this year. Nerves and choking are actually easier to fix (see: Serena! Justine!)

Bartoli retires! No doubt she's banged up and is being circumspect about it.

Five years time, we see her again as the coach of Kristina Mladenovic as she lifts the dish?

should've retired in the wimbledon trophy ceremony speech though! i'm dissappointed in you, marion! for real though just lol and omg and a whole lot of <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

Whoa.

First, I am surprised because Marion has always put a lot of stock into symbolic experiences, so I'd have thought she'd want to coast along and get Slam champ treatment for a year, then open Centre Court play on the first Tuesday of Wimbledon 2014. Even Ivanisevic did this (except still didn't get to do it). I wouldn't be entirely unsurprised if she unretired just to do this.

Outside of that I can understand it. I believe her when she says her body is banged up. And she's not at the zenith of her form - were it not for Wimbledon the "time to retire" mutters would have definitely started this year. Her giant-killing exploits in the past are a handy argument against her win being a fluke but overall, she was in decline. She won Wimbledon less because she was ascending to a new level as a player and more because the draw fell apart and she turned back the clock at the right time.

We talk about "going out on a high" so much, but so few tennis players actually do it. (This has similarities to Graf 1999, peaking in the summer despite the general downward slope of her career, getting to the US hard courts and retiring first from a match and then completely.) So if that's something Cake wanted (presumably eg Fran and Venus don't give a shit), good on her for realising it was time.

i'll really really miss her

Shocked to hear this news and kinda sad tbh! i know she didn't beat anyone too spectacular at wimby but she played so flawlessly, it seems such a dramatic move to suddenly give up forever.

i s'pose there is hope that she can pull a date-krumm / hingis and maybe come back after a few years of respite.

Well her match against Stephens was a long way from flawless, but she was ridiculously good against Flipkens, she'd have beaten nearly anyone on that form.

well yeah, even during Wimbledon she didn't play at her best until the last two rounds - which is to her credit, at that point the title was anyone's and it was Marion who found her highest gear. I've always loved how she could do that.

I'll definitely miss her but it's been 12 years since I first saw her play at a poxy Cardiff 25K challenger and it's been a really good innings. I don't think I ever envisaged her as a play-into-your-30s type, particularly as she's had a very long career without any mid-career breaks.

Sad news to wake up to. I will miss her on the tour.

RT @dougrobson Bartoli in conf call says she first thought about retiring…last night. #wta #cincytennis

She didn't exactly ponder it for very long...

lol wtg Sloane